


Swords & Storms

by kiatina



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Arranged Marriage, Kidnapping, M/M, Miscommunication, Mistaken Identity, Soulmarks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:20:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiatina/pseuds/kiatina
Summary: After losing his family in an accident, Yuuri reaches out to his only family left, a distant uncle. En route to start a new life together, their ship is overrun by Captain Nikiforov and his crew of pirates. Nikiforov takes everything of value from his uncle, including Yuuri himself! While held for ransom by the infamous pirate, Yuuri discovers an unsettling truth - his soulmate is the very man who kidnapped him! Can he escape before the secret is out?
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Nishigori Takeshi/Nishigori Yuuko, Phichit Chulanont/Christophe Giacometti
Comments: 70
Kudos: 470





	1. This Can't Be Happening

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all! This is my second YOI story! I plan to update every Friday. I am working on two stories at once, so please forgive me if I am ever a day or two late! Please enjoy!
> 
> Also, I don't know anything about cities in Japan, especially not which were big/small back when pirates were around. I looked at a map and picked ones simply on location, so if I describe them terribly just go with it please! :)

It was a surprisingly beautiful day; the sun was shining, the sea was calm, when Victor spotted the ship in the distance. Despite making this whole chase and looting bit that much easier, he had to admit to a feeling of disappointment. He did so love the dramatics, and appearing out of nowhere from within a low hanging cloud, or descending upon a helpless ship caught in a storm was so much more exciting than this. 

"Chris,” he called lightly to his first mate. When the man turned, Victor nodded in the direction he had been looking, and Chris came to stand beside him. “What do you think?” 

He shrugged, squinting to try and see a little better. “Looks decent enough. Probably a low level noble of some sort. Definitely not royalty, there's no escort in sight.” One against one gave them decent odds as well, as if that were truly a concern of theirs. He glanced at his captain and best friend. “You look disappointed.” 

Victor tried to stand a little straighter and hide it. “Disappointed? No, no. Just apprehensive.” 

“That's unlike you,” Chris snorted. “You have one little hiccup on our last raid and suddenly you're too scared to pounce on a little thing like this?” 

The pirate rolled his eyes. “I'm not scared,” he scoffed. “I'm just wondering...is it really worth it? Chase them down, tie them up, destroy the ship, and for what? The two pounds of gold they have? Honestly Chris I'd rather walk the plank.” 

“Well, it's your decision,” Chris says with a tone of finality. “Either we engage or we wait for something better. You can't ask for better visibility or sailing conditions than this though.” 

Victor decided not to comment on how those two things were not helping. The atmosphere wasn't here, but he supposed that wasn't sufficient reason to deny his crew a chance to stretch their legs. Though he was loathe to admit it, after that disastrous affair with Lord Hirome a month ago, he had been laying as low as a fearsome pirate could. 

After a much too long and slightly awkward silence, Victor turned his gaze away from the ship they were gaining on and looked to Chris. It took a moment for his friend to return it. “I know I said it before-” 

“Victor,” Chris sighed loudly, frowning. 

“-but I can't say it enough. I...can't express how sorry I am about-” 

“It wasn't your fault,” the first mate said over him. “I know it wasn't. The crew knows it wasn't. You know it wasn't.” 

Victor clenched his teeth in agitation. Why couldn't Chris hate him? It would be so much easier than this unconditional loyalty. “I allowed myself to be distracted, I didn't have your back.” 

“It's okay,” Chris insisted. 

“No it's not,” Victor hissed. “Chris you lost your leg.” He watched his friend shift uncomfortably at the mention of it, a phantom twitch in a limb so recently replaced with pine. “All because I was too preoccupied with getting the god damn chest onto our ship.” 

“We all thought we had the entire crew captive,” Chris reminded him, as he had so many times over the last four weeks. “How were you supposed to know there was one more waiting to strike?” He nudged Victor's elbow good naturedly. “And anyway. It's only half my leg. The fellows hardly notice.” Except Phichit, who had zeroed in on his favorite customers limp the moment he stumbled into his bar. 

Victor choked out a laugh and clasped a hand to Chris's arm. “I don't deserve you, Chris.” 

“I don't deserve to be treated like an invalid. Now I know you've been reluctant about pillaging because of me, but knock it off. The crew is itching for a good fight, and so am I.” He may not be as agile on his feet as he once was, but he was still magnificent with a sword. 

“Fine,” Victor relented. “We strike.” He pushed away from the side of the ship and went to yell down over the center rail, “Hoist the colors!” There was a raucous cheer, and within moments the flag of Russia was lowered, replaced with his trademark Jolly Roger. 

* * *

Yuuri was seated beside his beautiful fiance Yuuko, en route to the city of Beppu. The two were a handsome couple, complementing in every way from looks to breeding. Her family came from a long line of nobles, all richer than their predecessor, and Yuuri's uncle had been practically salivating during their engagement ceremony. It had been disgusting. He knew if his parents were still alive they wouldn't have put him up to this. Would have let him wait until he found his soulmate, let him marry for love rather than fortune.

But they were gone, his uncle was desperate, and Yuuri's soul mark had never so much as itched in announcement of his soulmate nearby. Why shouldn't he take advantage of the fact the wealthy daughter of the Toyomura family also hadn't found her soulmate, his uncle pushed. They would be a good match. A profitable match. And after his uncle was kind enough to open his home to Yuuri and train him in his trading company, the least he could do was pay him back with a marriage that would benefit them all.

Yuuri subtly pulled back the sleeve of his shirt, just enough to glimpse the mark on the inside of his wrist. It wasn't very clear, like some people's soul marks. Back home, his good friend Takeshi's was a sharply defined kanji symbol for tenderness. Yuuri wished he had one as easy to decipher. Rather than a word, his was a very vague _something_ that seemed to be confused on if it wanted to sharpen with clarity or get more and more blurred. It was supposed to be clearer the closer you were to your soulmate, apparently Yuuri's never seemed to sit still. 

He sighed. Even if it never sharpened to any more clarity, or if it never did make any sense, he supposed it didn't matter now. He had Yuuko, and despite only knowing her a short while, she seemed lovely enough.

But _still._ This arrangement was unfair. After all, none of this was his fault.

* * *

It started a month ago. 

His uncle Hirome Itoku had the brilliant plan to uproot their little family of two from Hasetsu and sail them all the way to Naha. Yuuri had resisted, his whole life was in Hasetsu, what was he supposed to do in Naha? 

“You'll enjoy it,” his uncle promised, tone kind but eyes betraying him, showing his lack of sympathy. "A change of scenery will be good for you, it will take your mind off the accident. You need a clear head if you're to learn to run the business...”

“Run the business,” Yuuri grumbled under his breath. Like he had any desire to take over his uncle's trading empire. It was crooked at best, most likely illegal in its entirety, and he wanted nothing to do with it. The only business he had ever dreamed of running was the onsen, but after the fire that had leveled half the sleepy town of Hasetsu...

_Don't think about it._

If it were up to Yuuri, he would have stayed and tried to rebuild. Keep Yu-topia running in memory of his parents. But everything he had was gone. His family, his home, his income. Yuuri had only been vaguely aware of the fact he had any extended family, his mother had had a falling out with her brother and rarely spoke of him. It had taken almost three months for Yuuri to track him down to let him know of their passing. He would have been content to leave contact at that, honestly.

However, being the sole member of his uncle's family, he felt a certain responsibility to him. Or maybe it was simply a longing to have some kind of family in his life. His uncle pitied him and offered him a home and employment, and Yuuri had little else to turn to.

So they packed up their life and set sail for Okinawa Prefecture, his uncle sure Naha's port would prove to be more fruitful than Hasetsu. The water along the beginning of the voyage was surprisingly well behaved for them, providing smooth sailing for several days. 

Until a summer storm snuck up on them. 

“Pirates!” shrieked a panicked sailor, and through the downpour Yuuri saw a ship appear out of the shadows, men already swinging onto their ships deck. 

“Arm yourselves!” the captain yelled. “Where are my cannons?” Yuuri felt the ship rock as he simultaneously heard the boom from below deck. The attacking ship suffered only one hit, and returned fire immediately, all her cannon balls hitting their target. “Reload, god damn it!” 

Yuuri had sprinted for the staircase that lead down to the sleeping quarters where he knew his uncle had last been seen. It was chaos below, with crew members scurrying about and passengers wailing. He ran through the crowd, loosing his footing once when the ship was struck by yet another barrage of cannon balls. _“Ojisan!”_ he called over the noise. 

“Yuuri!” the man shouted in return. 

The boy ran in the direction of the voice, finding his uncle frantically tugging the large chest with their entire family's worth locked inside toward a staircase that lead yet further down into the ship. “What are you doing?” 

“We have to hide this, you stupid boy! Who do you think are out there? Pirates!” 

A hole was blasted into the side of the ship mere inches from Yuuri's head. “Are you crazy?” he asked, looking at the weight of the chest. “We have to get out of here!” 

“Get out of here?” his uncle asked incredulously. “Where do you think we can go? We're on a ship!” 

“We need to get upstairs,” Yuuri explained. “There's no way this ship is staying afloat.” 

His uncle continued to drag the chest down the aisle. “Go up there and get murdered?” 

“We'll drown down here!” Yuuri had to scream to be heard over the others panicking and crying around them. “Find something that will float. We have to jump overboard.” 

“I don't think so!” 

Yuuri couldn't believe this. Was hiding their fortune really his first priority right now? The ship was taking on water, they couldn't stay down here forever. Yes there were pirates up above, but he was counting on the crew to distract them long enough for him to take his chances in the stormy sea. “Let it go!” 

The door to the lower deck burst open and down came a half dozen pirates, brandishing swords and shooting off guns to get their attention. The noise was near deafening and he felt dizzy, being pushed this way and that as everyone ran in circles. Eventually the crew and their passengers were rounded up, taken up to the main deck and made to sit in a circle. The rain was still pouring down, and the only illumination they had was from the occasional flash of lightning. 

“Good evening,” came a calm, amused voice. Who Yuuri assumed was their captain came prancing over the side railing and to the center of the deck. “My name is Captain Nikiforov. Please forgive the intrusion,” he said, pressing his hands together and bowing slightly as if apologizing. “I promise we won't take up too much more of your time. Thank you all so much for cooperating.” He grinned at the glares he received, then hopped over to speak with one of his men before disappearing down into the ship. 

Yuuri looked to his left for his uncle, then to the right, having difficulty spotting him. He was too nervous to shout for him, so he kept twisting this way and that, looking over those now held hostage, but he couldn't seem to find him. 

“Getting antsy, mate?” asked one of the intruders, and Yuuri instantly settled down, avoiding his gaze. 

“Chris, come help me with this!” called the captain's voice from down below, and the man in front of Yuuri motioned for another to come stand guard. He too disappeared for several minutes, and then Yuuri saw the two pirates with the chest that contained his livelihood. He imagined shouting for them to drop it, but in reality simply watched in horror as the two struggled to get it to the railing. “God damn it's heavy,” laughed Nikiforov. “What the hell is in here, solid gold?” 

“Certainly feels like it.” 

The captain wiped his rain soaked hair out of his eyes, stopping for a moment to catch his breath, which would have been embarrassing for such a legendary smuggler if it weren't so obvious to everyone watching that this weighed at least fives times his weight. Looking down at the chest he saw through the water beginning to pool that there was a name embroidered into the case's leather. Pawing the debris away quickly he read, “Hirome. Mean anything to you?” 

Chris sighed. “Honestly, you call yourself a pirate. Yes Hirome means something to me, to all of us, he's the owner of the wealthiest trading company this side of Japan. His ships are the reason you can afford your lifestyle.” 

“Oh,” Nikiforov said cheerily. “I don't really pay attention to who I'm stealing from, but I suppose that is rather rude.” Lightning struck as he scanned over his captive audience, illuminating their terrified expressions. “Is there a Hirome in the room?” 

Yuuri felt his stomach drop when most scooted away from him, pointing and nodding in his direction. Thanks. 

The captain strutted over and bent down to take a look at the dark haired young man before him. When he refused to make eye contact, Nikiforov gently used the tip of his sword to nudge the man's chin up. “You're a little young to be running an empire, aren't you?” 

“I-I'm his nephew,” he explained. 

“Ah. So where is Dear Old Uncle? I would sincerely like to thank him almost single-handedly funding my career.” 

“I sailed alone,” he quickly lied. “I'm, I'm meeting him in...Higashi.” It was literally the only other city in Okinawa Prefecture he knew, and he was reluctant to reveal their true destination. 

“Oh dear,” the captain laughed, dropping his sword to his side. “I'm afraid you're taking a very long detour. You shouldn't even be on this side of Japan.” 

_You got that right_ , he thought miserably. 

He turned back to his first mate. “I'll manage this. You go see if we missed anything.” Yuuri watched the younger man descend once again while the captain waived over two of his crew to help with the chest. Still wondering where his uncle was, Yuuri chanced a few more glances around the crowd sitting silently around him. Nothing. 

The first mate surfaced again. “Nothing worth the trouble,” he reported. “Except perhaps – AAGH!” He toppled to the deck, howling in pain, clutching at his shin. Yuuri saw his uncle crouched on the staircase behind the man, bloodied sword in hand. 

“Chris!” cried Nikiforov, bolting to his friend's side. His leg was bleeding something awful. Seething, he pulled a gun from inside his jacket and turned to face who had done this. “You son of a bitch!” he snarled, advancing on the man. In the confusion a few of the crew jumped to their feet and engaged the pirate crew in hand to hand maneuvers. 

“You're the asshole who sinks my ships?” his uncle screamed, darting out of the doorway when a shot was fired in his direction. “Well you're not getting away with it this time!”

Leave it to his uncle to provoke a pirate. Yuuri too leapt to his feet, darting to put himself between the doorway that lead to his uncle and the fuming Captain Nikiforov on deck. “Wait, please!” he cried, eyeing the gun in the man's hand. 

He glared at the young boy trembling before him. “Oh he's in Higashi, is he?” The pirate was furious. What to do with this man? With a gun in his right hand and a sword in his left, he certainly had options. 

“Please, have mercy! He's not thinking right, he's just scared!” His uncle chose an inconvenient time to reappear in the doorway and take a shot at the captain, missing terribly. 

“Is anyone going to grab him?” Nikiforov screamed at his men, and two abandoned the sailors they'd been engaged with and tore down the stairs, dragging a kicking and screaming merchant back up. “Thank you,” he sighed. 

“Get your filthy hands off me!” cried Hirome, struggling to break free and slipping on the wet deck. Yuuri wished right now he had any uncle but this one, yet still dove in front of him, urging him to shut up so they might survive this encounter, and resumed pleading for the pirates to just take the loot and go. 

“Get out of my way, or I'll kill you too,” Nikiforov growled, eyes trained on the man who dared to attack his best friend. 

“Please!” Yuuri begged. 

The man raised the gun, fully intending to pull the trigger and take them both out, when he heard a faint, “Captain,” from beside him. 

He knelt immediately, keeping one eye on his targets as he said, “You'll be fine, it's just a scratch, Chris.” 

“I have to go,” Chris insisted. He was loosing too much blood, feeling lightheaded and cold. “Now, now....I have to go. Phichit...” There was something he desperately needed to tell him. 

“Of course,” Victor realized. “He can stitch you back together. Though you're fine, really, it's not that bad.” 

“ _Victor_ ,” Chris whispered urgently. 

“Damn it. You,” he pointed at one of his crew, “Help me carry him. And you, toss them into the sea.” His orders were swiftly carried out, and Yuuri found himself and his uncle being shoved onto the plank. This wasn't quite how he imagined abandoning this ship. For fear of being shot, they didn't need much coercion to jump. The waters were rough but they strained to keep their heads above. They watched helplessly as the pirates returned to their own ship, and the poor excuse of a vessel they had been sailing on began to sink, taking with it all their possessions to the sea floor. 

* * *

“...to me? Yuuri?” 

He blinked back to the present. “Sorry. Hm?” 

“I said are you listening to me?” Yuuko was looking at him in concern. “Your eyes glazed over. Are you alright?” 

“Oh. Yes. I'm fine. Just thinking.” 

She nodded. “Me too.” The woman reached over and gave Yuuri's hand a comforting squeeze. It was enough to get a small smile out of him. He really didn't mind her, she had ended up being quite nice actually, but... she just didn't have the mark. She wasn't the one. 

“It's acting up again,” he admitted to her, shaking her hand loose to raise his own. On his right wrist was a black mark he'd had since childhood. It changed shape over the years, and seemed to be growing darker by the day lately, but now it had consistently seemed to be some kind of lopsided X. Itoku liked to say they looked like two crossed chopsticks, and wasn't that fitting for a piggy like his nephew? Always eating. Such a mark was pathetic, no soulmate would ever materialize. The marks were supposed to give you a clue as to your soulmate's name. Whose name had anything to do with chopsticks? No one! 

Yuuri was starting to wonder if that were true. 

“At least you have one,” Yuuko said miserably. She had searched her whole body relentlessly over the years to no avail. All the other ladies in their social circle had their marks appear by now, and several had found and married their soulmate. Yuuko's parents were not willing to wait any longer to marry off their eldest daughter. Any more stalling and she was be deemed a spinster, undesirable and shameful. 

“It'd be easier if I didn't,” Yuuri admitted. At her confused look he explained, “If I didn't have a soulmate out there...marrying you might almost make sense.” He and his uncle lost everything in that pirate raid, and Yuuko needed a husband immediately. If they both were destined to be alone, might as well be alone together. He was losing hope he'd find someone who matched his mark. What help was...he looked a little harder at the blurred image. Two...knives, maybe? 

Yuuko sighed and reached to hold Yuuri's hand again. “I'm sorry.” She knew it wasn't easy to marry knowing your true match was someone else. 

He shrugged. “It's not your fault.” 

“Maybe it won't be terrible,” she said. “Maybe we could be friends.” 

Yuuri smiled and turned his hand palm upward so he could squeeze hers in return. “I'd like that.” 

“Pirates!” cried a voice from the crow's nest. “Pirates!” 

Yuuko's hands flew to her mouth as Yuuri groaned. “This can't be happening.” 

* * *

The pirate's ship easily caught up to their prey. He almost wished it was more of a challenge, but then glanced over at Chris, and as the guilt washed over him yet again, deciding baby steps were alright. Ease back into the chaos of their livelihood. 

When they were close enough he grabbed a rope and swung over to the other ship's deck, landing as graceful as a cat among the panicking sailors. He felt Chris land beside him, and they shared a grin as their cannons fired and they felt the ship lurch beneath them. After a month away, it felt so good to get back to work. 

"Ladies and gentlemen," he called out above the racket. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain Nikiforov." Both crews were a little too preoccupied with fighting each other to give him much notice, but he was still grinning happily with the proceedings going the way they were. 

Nearby, Yuuri was hiding behind a few barrels with Yuuko tucked behind him, hopefully out of sight. "Oh god," he groaned. "Oh god, oh no, oh god..." 

Yuuko was shaking while she tried to pat him reassuringly. "It's okay," she whispered. "From what I hear they generally leave those they attack alive." She was still terrified of course, nothing says they wouldn't change their tactics on a whim, but she had a faint feeling of hope. 

Yuuri was hiding his face in his hands. "It's the same crew as last time." 

"What do you mean?" asked Yuuko. 

"The pirates that stole our fortune after my uncle attacked their first mate? This is them." 

Yuuko froze. "Oh no." 

They both jumped when a pirate leaned over their barrel.

The pirate grinned toothily at them before hauling them out by their collars. Yuuri wrestled away easily enough and pulled Yuuko against him, wrapping his arms around her protectively. Fortunately the captain seemed distracted on the other side of the deck. 

“Do we have the captain of this vessel yet?” Victor asked Chris. The two were standing aside watching the pandemonium unfold like you would a sporting match. 

“I don't believe so,” Chris answered. “Would you like me to sniff him out?” 

“Only if you're up for it.” Victor was still concerned Chris wasn't allowing enough time for his injury to heal. “It's only been a few weeks.” 

Chris sighed with a smile. “Aside from a few aches, I'm fine. I'll be back with the captain in no time.” Victor watched his second in command dart off into the chaos. True to his word, Chris returned shortly with a petite yet feisty woman in his arms. 

“I said find yourself a captain, not a grandmother,” Victor sighed. 

“I _am_ the captain,” she spat, glaring at him as she struggled against Chris's hold. 

“Oh,” said Victor, looking delighted. “Excuse me. I don't believe we've met.” The woman practically growled at him. “I wish it were under better circumstances.” 

“I'm _sure_ you do.” 

Victor smiled sweetly at her for a moment longer before looking to Chris expectantly. “She's Lilia Baranovskaya. She has quite the reputation, though I don't expect you to pay attention to those types of things.” Victor was rather self centered when it came to that. 

“Mm. Noted. Well Miss Baranovskaya, I have to say I'm disappointed. Not quite the treasure trove we were hoping for.” 

“It's _Captain_ Baranovskaya to you,” she snarled. 

“Of course.” Victor gave a mock bow and turned to look over the ship once again. His men were nearly done rounding up the sailors. His eyes were doing one final sweep of the area when they landed on the couple cowering across the way. He blinked in disbelief, but the vision didn't disappear. “I don't believe it.” 

“What?” asked Chris, but Victor had already begun stomping over there. 

Yuuri's heart lurched when he made eye contact with Nikiforov. He watched the silver headed pirate pull a gun out from his side, and he thought for certain his life was over. This was it. Poor Yuuko caught up in his family's problem. But then the man raised the gun to the sky and shot it once, startling everyone on board before shouting, “EVERYBODY FREEZE!” 

Men from both crews stopped what they were doing, weapons still poised threateningly as they awaited orders from their respective leaders. Yuuri let go of Yuuko and pushed her behind him, hoping to shield her from whatever was in store for him. 

“You,” Victor said quietly, though in the silence around them it was easy to hear. “How are you alive?” Yuuri stuttered out an unintelligible reply. Victor looked at the woman behind him, seemingly inconsequential, then looked around at the men nearby. “Is your uncle on board?” Having learned his lesson last time about lying, Yuuri reluctantly nodded. “Bring him to me!” he snapped at no one in particular, and instantly four of his men darted in different directions. Yuuri hoped his uncle had the good sense to jump overboard. 

“Please don't kill him,” he said weakly. “He didn't know what he was doing, it all happened so fast...” His pleas fell upon deaf ears. 

After a few tense moments, Hirome Itoku was brought out before them all, hands behind his back. “Get off of me you filthy pirate!” 

“Shh!” hissed Yuuri, glancing nervously between his uncle and Nikiforov. 

“Well,” Victor said coldly. “We meet again. You're just as charming as I remember.” 

“You're just as rotten, you thieving bastard! What have you come for this time?” 

Oh lord, they were not going to get out of this alive. “Ojisan! Please! Be quiet!” 

Victor raised an eyebrow. “Have you anything left? I thought I got it all.” 

That hit a sore spot. “YOU-” 

“Now now, let's not say something we'll regret,” said Victor. “I have been generous up until now, but I do have my limits.” 

“Generous?” Itoku spluttered. “You think you're generous?” 

“You're alive, aren't you? And your nephew is unharmed and in one piece. That's more than I can say about the condition you left my first mate in.” He gestured to Chris who stomped his wooden leg. “Under the circumstances I'd say I'm very generous.” 

“I have nothing left to live on!”

“Let's not be dramatic about this, you're not exactly penniless. You still have your empire and your salary.” Victor may have taken everything on hand, but the man had a source of income. He'd recover eventually, though he may never attain the wealth he had before. 

Itoku growled, “You took everything I had!” 

“Everything? I find that hard to believe.” His eyes trailed over to the dark haired nephew, still standing defensively in front of the pretty brunette. Suddenly he grinned widely. “Not quite everything,” he mused, before pointing to Yuuri and Yuuko. “Take the couple!” 

“What?” gasped Itoku, Yuuri and Yuuko simultaneously. Suddenly Yuuri was ripped from Yuuko, and the two were manhandled over toward the plank connecting the two ships. Yuuko was screaming in terror. 

“Wait!” cried Yuuri. “Let her go! She has nothing to do with this!”

Captain Baranovskaya took advantage of the confusion and elbowed Chris sharply in the gut. He gasped and released his hold on her, stumbling back a few paces. She swiftly turned and grabbed his sword, gracefully swinging around him and holding the blade to his throat. To Victor she said evenly, “Release them or he dies.” 

Victor glared at her. “Two for one is hardly fair,” he said, stalling as he racked his mind for a way to get Chris back safely. 

“Take it or leave it,” she said, pressing the sword against his flesh hard enough for blood to start to bead. 

“You can have one,” Victor countered. “I'll even let you choose.” Though his voice was steady, there was an anxious glint in his eye as he watched Chris with care. 

“Take Yuuko!” Yuuri pleaded. “She didn't do anything!” 

“No no no!” she shouted. “Don't let them take Yuuri!” Yuuko knew they were after revenge, poor Yuuri would be killed immediately. 

“If you choose that wench over my nephew so help me god I will-” 

“Ojisan!” Yuuri cried. “Shut up!” To Lilia he begged, “Please Captain Baranovskaya, Yuuko had nothing to do with this.” 

Lilia grit her teeth in agitation, torn on what to do. With great reluctance she finally said, “The girl then,” and Yuuko was thrown to a few of her nearby crew. She waited until she was sure Yuuko was out of their reach before removing the sword from the first mate's neck. Chris quickly moved to Victor's side, rubbing at the cut lightly. 

“Pity we won't have such beautiful company,” said Victor, noticeably more sour than when he had arrived. His eyes roamed over Yuuri. “Though this one is quite pretty too.” He nodded toward their ship and his crew swiftly abandoned Lilia's. Yuuri stumbled as he was pushed across the gang plank, glancing over his shoulder nervously to see his uncle fuming and Yuuko in tears. He felt oddly touched by her level of concern, seeing as they had only met last week. As he was pushed onto the deck of the pirate ship he thought he may have lost out on a truly good wife and companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! If you like my style, please consider checking out my other story, A Hundred Different Shades of Blue. It has magic and dragons and all that good stuff!
> 
> Anyone have any guesses on what everyone's marks will be? They have something to do with their names :) (Spoiler, but not really a spoiler? We all know who gets together in these stories xD) For example, as stated above, Takeshi's mark is the kanji symbol for tenderness, and Yuuko = tender child.


	2. Am I Really So Terrible?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Yuuri has no experience being prisoner on a pirate ship, he's fairly certain it's not supposed to go like this. Chris is just as confused by Victor's recent behavior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri didn't have the best first impression of Victor. He doesn't feel much closer to figuring the man out now.

As the ships parted ways Yuuri was relieved to see Baranovskaya's was still afloat, though clearly disabled enough to prevent them from pursuing the pirates. He looked nervously around at the men staring right back at him. What did they have planned for him? Torture? Ransom? Death? He expected them to swoop in immediately and at least haul him down to the depths of the ship and shackle him to the wall. 

So it was with great disbelief that he stood there quietly, thoroughly ignored by the captain who had just kidnapped him. 

“Chris,” Victor frowned, peering at the cut on his best friend's neck. “Why are you suddenly incapable of leaving a raid uninjured?” 

The first mate was rubbing at the wound again. “She caught me off guard. She was such a tiny little thing.” 

Victor sighed. “I told you you weren't ready.” Chris rolled his eyes and started for his cabin. Victor began to follow suit when someone pointed out their newest addition was still standing awkwardly by the railing, looking terrified and confused as one who was recently kidnapped probably would. “Ah. Right.” 

“Shall we take him down below, Captain?” offered a crew member. 

Victor considered this thoughtfully. “It's getting awfully cramped down there, isn't it?” He'd kind of gone on a kidnapping spree over the last few months. He rattled off the crimes of the men he'd collected, from thievery to murder, thinking out loud on the best place to stash his new arrival. Yuuri paled as he droned on, wondering if perhaps the inmates were worse than the pirates. Finally Victor decided, “I'll take him with me.” 

“Really?” asked Chris with a raised eyebrow. “Why?” 

Victor ignored the question and grabbed Yuuri's wrist, tugging him along behind him as he headed for his quarters. The dark haired young man tried to dig his heels into the deck, or squirm out of his grip, though he didn't know where he could really go. “Stop struggling,” Victor demanded, not entirely surprised when his captive didn't obey. “It's very annoying.” 

By the time they reached the captains quarters Victor was panting from the effort it took to get Yuuri here. He threw open the door and shoved Yuuri roughly inside, following after and locking the door, tucking the key safely in his pocket. 

Yuuri quickly looked around the room to assess his situation. It was a tiny room, with one small window looking out on the ocean. Every inch of wall space was covered by charts, maps, or shelves with intricate and obscure objects. Shoved up against the far wall was a very unkempt bed, and immediately to their right was a rickety table and two mismatching chairs that had seen better days. Yuuri was particularly unnerved by the bed, as he had just been declared “pretty” by this man less than ten minutes ago, and he was certain that led down a very unpleasant road. He skittered to the corner furthest from the bed while Victor took a seat at the table. 

“Well don't just stand there,” Victor said with a bit of a huff. “Have a seat.” Yuuri stayed where he was, silent. Victor stared at him for a few moments. “What's wrong?” 

_That_ got a reaction. Yuuri choked out a strangled laugh. What wasn't wrong? His uncle pissed off an entire crew of pirates, he managed to get himself kidnapped, there was apparently a collection of the world's most violent criminals being stored on this very ship, and he was probably going to be raped or tortured before ultimately being murdered. All he managed to get out was, “I don't want to be here!” 

Victor tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Would you be more comfortable downstairs?” he asked. He thought the cells would be worse on someone so clearly new to captivity. 

“No!” Yuuri was quick to say. At least here it was only one tormentor. 

“Then sit down,” he said, wondering what all the fuss was about. 

“I'd rather not,” said Yuuri, folding his arms over himself protectively. Here he couldn't be snuck up on from behind. 

Victor continued to stare at him. Eventually he caught on that Yuuri's eyes were darting from him, to the bed, and back. “ _Oh_ ,” he said. “I see. It's the bed that's got you all out of sorts. Don't worry, I'm not going to touch you. That's not what I brought you in here for.” 

Forgive him if he was a little skeptical going off the word of a pirate. “What did you bring me here for?” he asked. “What did you kidnap me for?” 

“Isn't it obvious?” he asked. Yuuri shook his head. “Your uncle pissed me off.” Well, okay, that Yuuri knew. 

“So...you're going to kill _me_ for what _he_ did?” 

“Kill you?” Victor asked incredulously. “What makes you think I'd want to kill you?” 

It was Yuuri's turn to be confused. He opened his mouth, faltered, closed and stood silent for a moment. Gathering his wits about him he tried again. “Because you already tried a few times? Last month you had a gun in my face, and then you threw me in the ocean. And today...you looked pretty upset I was still alive.” 

“Oh. Well your uncle _had_ just attacked my first mate. Can you blame me for losing my temper? And as for today, I was just very surprised to see you in one piece. How did you survive?” 

Yuuri ignored him. “If you're not going to kill me out of revenge, what am I doing here?” 

“That's still to be determined.” 

“Come again?” 

Victor shrugged. “I really wasn't planning on taking you. It hadn't crossed my mind actually, until your uncle started shouting about how I took _everything_ he had. Well he still had _you_. So I thought, if I'm going to be accused of something, might as well do it. But now I'm not really sure what to do with you. I suppose we could ransom you back.” 

Yuuri couldn't believe it. His uncle and his big mouth had planted this whole thing in the pirate's head. If he'd just stayed quiet, maybe they could have a gotten away with a few bruises. “You could just...drop me off at the next port,” Yuuri suggested. 

“Mm, nice try,” Victor grinned. “While I wasn't anticipating this, I can't just pass up an opportunity like this. I wonder what your uncle would pay to have you back. Or that pretty wife of yours.” 

“Fiance,” he corrected automatically. 

“Fiance?” Victor asked. “Oh dear. I hope this doesn't throw too much of a wrench into your plans.” His grin slipped into a smirk. “If she loves you, I'm sure she'll wait for you.” 

“To be honest,” and Yuuri couldn't believe he was being honest with this man, “I think my uncle will be more upset about the engagement falling through than she will. I mean, we've only known each other a week.” 

“A week?” Victor asked. “Moving a little fast, aren't we?” 

“Well, not to point out the obvious, but we were raided by pirates last month, and you stole everything of value and sank the rest.” Victor grinned proudly at his work. “So we're in a bit of a pinch. Yuuko... Well, her mark never materialized, and her family doesn't want to wait any longer for her to marry, so... My uncle knew her father, and they came up with this brilliant solution to all our problems.” 

“I can't help but feel a little responsible for all this.” Yuuri narrowed his eyes at the pirate's smug smirk. “But you're welcome for getting you out of a loveless marriage.”

“Yeah I guess.” Yuuri lowered his arms, cautiously starting to relax. “So...you're really not going to torture or kill me?” 

“Of course not. What kind of monster do you think I am?” he scoffed. "I may be the best swordsman alive, but that doesn't mean I pierce the heart of every enemy I see, or every captive I take. They don't call me Virtuous Victor for nothing. I have _some_ morals." He expected some kind of snort in disbelief, but none came. He looked back over to see Yuuri looking rather stunned. "What now?"

“Vir...Virtuous...Victor?” 

Victor sniffed. “That’s what they say. Is that so hard to believe? I've had plenty of chances to kill or maim you and I haven't taken any. Even when justifiably provoked. You know most pirates would have just shot you and your uncle on sight for what you two did to Chris. I think the fact you're still alive and even out of chains makes me pretty damn virtuous.” Not to mention he was known for avoiding bloodshed when possible, most of his attacks left few injured or dead. He may be a thief, but he was no cold blooded killer. 

That wasn't the part that had him tongue tied. “ _Victor_?” he asked. “Swords?” 

“Yes?” Victor asked, as if it were obvious. “Victor Nikiforov? As in the most notable pirate on this side of the world? Eight different countries have bounties on my head. It kind of takes away from the mystique if I have to explain it. How have you not heard of me?!” Victor still had no idea why the young man was turning green. “Are you okay?” 

He had never known the fearsome pirates given name. “I have to sit down,” Yuuri mumbled, finally staggering over and falling onto the edge of the bed. Of course everyone had heard of the pirate Nikiforov. His reputation was impossible to ignore. But no one referred to him as _Victor_ , so _casually._ The man was a legend. 

Yuuri gripped his right wrist tightly with his left hand, and suddenly he swore he could feel his soul mark rippling. Victor was still looking at him quizzically, wondering if the stress of the day was finally taking it's toll on him. He moved his hand down enough to steal a glance at his mark. When it had first appeared seven years ago it had been quite blurry, slowly filling in over the years. The edges had sharpened to their clearest yet. His uncle had always figured the chopsticks meant he was destined for a soulmate as partial to food as he was, and they would most definitely be Japanese. Yuuri thought they might be knives crossed over each other. Maybe a cook? Now Yuuri was realizing they had been terribly, terribly wrong. 

_Victor_. It wasn't a lopsided X it was a V, the blades crossed at the hilts. And they weren't dull chopsticks or even knives, now that the image had sharpened even more. They were swords. Rather familiar looking swords, exact imprints of the one's hanging from Nikiforov's sides. Yuuri had never met anyone in Japan whose name started with V, so that hadn’t been as obvious a clue as one might have thought. But now… 

He winced as his mark suddenly pulsed with heat. Yuuri couldn’t believe it. 

His soulmate...was a pirate. 

* * *

The young man had been sitting in silence for quite a while now. Victor had given up trying to engage him in conversation, and had turned his attention to the maps on his table. They had a vague destination of someday ending up in Malaysia, but he was in no particular hurry to cash in one of his criminals, and was now considering take a “quick” trip to Thailand. 

Feeling a bit hungry, he stood and left his room without a word, locking the door behind him to ensure his new acquaintance stayed put. He poked his head into Chris's cabin. “I'm hungry. Also I broke the prisoner.” 

“You _what_?” Chris asked, jumping to his feet. “What do you mean you broke him?” It was very unlike Victor to engage in physical altercations unless absolutely necessary, or assisting in one of their raids. To attack an unarmed man... “Is he alive?” 

“Of course he's alive,” sighed Victor, irritated that he was accused of murder twice in one day. “He's just kind of sitting there dazed and confused.” 

“He _was_ just kidnapped. I imagine that takes some adjustment.” 

Victor shrugged. “He seemed okay at first, then just shut down. Maybe it'll be better after he eats something.” 

“Are you going to let him out to eat with the crew? And more importantly, are you going to tell me why you have him locked in your room?” 

“The crew makes him nervous,” Victor said simply. 

“That's all you've got. 'The crew makes him nervous.' Don't _you_ make him nervous?” Chris asked. 

“Are you going to eat with me or not?” 

His first mate stared flatly at him. “You're strangely deflective over this. What's happening?”

“I'm slowly withering away to nothing before your eyes. Come on, before Cao Bin eats everything good like he always does.” 

Chris sighed in defeat and rose to stand. “If you hate Cao Bin so much, why don't you just maroon him on an island and do us all a favor.” 

“Because he still owes me money, and we agreed that he could pay me back in servitude. Thank god we only have three years left.” 

The two strode down the deck toward the mess hall. “Personally I don't think whatever he took from you is worth having him around. _I'll_ pay you what he owes if it means we can ditch him.” 

“Now Chris, what kind of character building would that be?” He held the door open for his best friend. “Three more years.” His smile dropped when he saw the crew member in question biting into an apple. “God damn it Cao!” he shouted, causing the man to drop the fruit. “You know the fruit is off limits!” Fresh produce was supposed to be saved for Victor and a select few worthy enough of the rare treat. Victor sent a glare at the galley cook too for good measure, because someone had to have supplied it to him. “I'm adding two months to your debt,” he grumbled. 

“I will get you a damn pineapple if you take that back,” said Chris. 

Slightly appeased by the promise of the near impossible, Victor settled for just swiping the bowl of fruit instead of really laying into his least favorite shipmate. Changing his mind on eating in the hall, Victor grabbed a loaf of bread and asked for some meat that wasn't rotting like last time. “If it's not too much trouble,” he added sarcastically. “As much as I love a good maggot or two...” He was handed a plate of some dubious looking meat of an unknown source. “Ugh,” he groaned, and pushed it back. “Forget it.” He swiped a bottle of rum and turned on his heel. “Of all the ways to die, and my most likely one is food poisoning. How shameful.” After instructing them to head for the nearest port, regardless of where that lead them, he left for his quarters. 

* * *

Victor knocked on his own door, then laughed at himself before letting himself in. He was surprised to see Yuuri still on the bed. In fact, he had moved up to sit at the head of the bed, wedged into that corner now. “Are you talking again?” Victor asked. Yuuri shrugged. “Well. If you're hungry...” He set the bowl of fruit on the bed, and after tearing the loaf of bread in two, set one half in the bowl too. 

He went back to his table, clearing enough space for his bread and rum, and resumed studying the surrounding area. He lost track of time, like he always did in here, daydreaming about all the places to plunder and how to get there. The feeling of freedom never got old, and he reveled in the fact he could go anywhere in the world on a whim. 

There was some shuffling coming from the other side of the room, and he glanced over to see Yuuri had scooted down the mattress and was rummaging through the bowl. He pulled out a slightly discolored orange and seemed to be willing to risk it. 

“We're a bit low on food,” Victor explained. “It's not exactly easy to come by.” 

Having had some time to himself to accept his situation, Yuuri finally felt up to talking to his...his... Okay maybe he hadn't accepted it just yet. “You could never convince me you can't afford it.” 

Victor smirked. “True. Money is not the issue. However, I can't just stroll into any old market, can I?” More than a few countries were actively searching for him. Could he help it if he was popular? “Word of advice from a seasoned sailor, don't eat anything with meat until we reach port.” 

Content with his somewhat aging orange and an apple that was in surprisingly good shape, Yuuri scooted back to his corner. He ate in silence, watching Victor as the man wrote notes in a journal, picked at his dinner, and fiddled with his numerous gadgets. It was growing dark, and when it got to the point Victor needed to light up a lantern, the anxiety from before started to rise. Nikiforov had been amiable up to this point, but would it last? He just found it very doubtful that nothing was going to happen when the lights went out. Soulmate or not, Victor was still a pirate. 

After nearly an hour of suspense, Yuuri jumped when Victor stood and turned to face him. His breathing quickened, and his eyes darted to the door. Victor followed his gaze, sensing the rising fear in the room, and he stepped lightly over to the door and turned the key, letting himself out before locking it again without a word. He could hear the audible sigh of relief from his room. 

Chris's door was unlocked as usual, so Victor let himself in without a second thought. “Excuse you,” Chris muttered, sitting up in bed. “What the hell Victor?” 

“Scoot over, I need a place to sleep.” 

Chris raised an eyebrow. “What happened to your bed?” 

“It's otherwise occupied.” 

“What? You mean you gave up your bed to this guy now? Have you lost your mind, Victor? What's wrong with you?” 

“Just shut up and scoot over,” he insisted, already trying to weasel his way under Chris's blanket. 

Chris stared at him for a moment longer before giving in and moving as close to the wall as he could. “You realize this is why everyone thinks we're still lovers, right? Someone is going to see you sneaking out of here in the morning. _Again_.” 

“Oh please. Everyone thinks we're lovers because even _we_ thought we were soulmates for a while." That was an interesting few years, trying to make that work. Their marks being what they were, they had thought maybe... But it soon became apparent friendship with a healthy dose of lust now and then was all that there was between them. Their soul marks hadn't been reacting, though sometimes they convinced themselves they felt a twinge. Both had thought the alerts people talked about must have been exaggerated or made up to romanticize the moment of finding _the one_. 

That is, until Chris's shoulder just about burnt off the first time he drunkenly tripped into the arms of a Thai bartender. 

“But we clearly have a strictly professional relationship now,” Victor added. 

“Clearly.” Chris wondered how much the world's papers would pay for this story, fearsome marauding pirate curled up with his first mate. No one truly understood what it was like being second in command to Victor Nikiforov.

* * *

Yuuri awoke in the morning, and for one glorious moment, thought everything from the night before had been a dream. When he opened his eyes he would be aboard Captain Baranovskaya's ship, bound for marriage with Yuuko. 

But instead, when he opened his eyes, he saw mismatched furniture and a wall of nautical maps. He was disappointed to say the least. Until he realized that he had slept soundly, and most importantly, alone. Nikiforov had walked out with no explanation, and stayed out all night. That...didn't seem typical of a captor. 

In fact, while he was no expert on imprisonment, he was fairly certain none of this was going the way it should. 

Next door, Victor was trying to make it out of Chris's room without any interrogation, but luck was not on his side. 

“Hold it!” his first mate snapped right as Victor's hand reached the doorknob. “Come back here.” 

“While I would love to, I really need to make sure we're on course. I gave very vague directions last night and I don't want to wind up in India or something.” 

“ _Victor_ , I'm serious. Sit your ass down.” 

“I am your superior, and I do not appreciate that tone.” 

Chris pointed to a chair, and Victor reluctantly took a seat. “Can you _please_ tell me what's going on?” 

“What do you mean?” asked Victor. 

“You're not acting like yourself. We kidnap this man, okay, par for the course. But instead of locking him up in the cells below deck, like we would any other ransom catch, you invite him into your private quarters, give him food you don’t even let the crew touch, and let him sleep in your bed.” Victor blinked. “You don't see why I'm freaking out here?” 

“Honestly anyone can have the fruit but Cao Bin.” 

“Focus!” 

“On what?” Victor snapped. “That I'm not a complete monster? You really expect me to throw this timid kid into the same room with the filth we deal in? They'd eat him alive. There'd be nothing left to ransom back to his uncle.” 

“So you're just protecting an asset,” said Chris. 

“Exactly!” 

“Bullshit.” Victor flinched at the tone. “You could have moved them around and freed up a cell just for him.” 

“Too much work, I'm lazy.” 

“You could have let him stay with the crew.” 

“Have you met our crew? They're really not much better.” 

“Since when do you care?” cried Chris. 

“Since when do you?” countered Victor. “Why is it any of your business?” 

“What is 'it'?” pushed Chris. “Why are you so obsessed with this man you've known for barely a day?” 

“I don't know!” Victor admitted. “I can't help it!” 

Chris tried to lower his voice. “What do you mean?” he asked. “What can't you help?” 

Victor clenched his teeth, pouting. He knew Chris would wait him out, so the silent treatment was useless. “I just...have this compulsion...to protect him. I can't explain it. I know that, rationally, I should have had him taken down below, tossed in with the rest and forgotten about. But my every _instinct_ said no.” 

Chris's eyes brightened. “Has your mark reacted?” 

“That's not relevant.” 

“How could that not be relevant? _Victor_. Has it reacted?” 

“Maybe a little bit,” he revealed grudgingly. “But before you get the wrong idea, his name is Hirome, remember?” 

“Well-” Chris floundered, trying to make this work. What did that name mean? His Japanese was essentially non-existant. Perhaps Phichit would know… But when would they see him next? “Maybe – If-” 

“Just stop,” Victor sighed. He’d already looked into the family, though for another reason entirely. After their last encounter which cost Chris part of his leg, Victor had looked into the man responsible in hopes of forming some plan for revenge. “Hirome...'debut' has nothing to do with my mark.” 

“But 'debut' could mean anything. We don't know.” 

“Just...stop.” Victor got to his feet. “It's not a match. I'm not going crazy because he's my soulmate. It's just guilt. He didn't cause you to lose your leg, his uncle did, and I'm the bastard that took him hostage anyway. The least I can do is make sure he survives in one piece.” 

Chris huffed, crossing his arms. “You know the crew is going to be wondering what's going on too. Why you're suddenly cozying up to a catch. What are you going to tell them?” 

“Nothing. Let them come up with their own story.” He headed for the door, and this time his friend didn't try to stop him. “The sooner we dock the better. We need to get word to Hirome senior that we expect payment for his nephew’s return. None of the run arounds we normally do. I just want this over with so he makes it back in time for his wedding.” 

“Wedding?” Chris asked, having missed that entire conversation. “When is that happening?” 

“No idea, actually, so we better get a move on. For all we know it's tomorrow.” He pulled open the door. “I'll see you later.” One step out onto the deck and he collided with their navigator. The man looked from Victor to the door that obviously lead to Chris's quarters. “Problem?” asked Victor. The man shook his head and darted down the deck. 

“While I admit I used to love the attention, could you please _try_ to be subtle now,” Chris sighed. “What if this all gets back to Phichit?” 

“Are you embarrassed by me darling?” Victor grinned. “You wound me so.” 

“Just get out of here before someone else sees you.”

* * *

The second day passed very similar to the first, and then the third came and went. By the fourth morning Yuuri was going a little stir crazy, and braving a ship full of unsavory companions seemed worth it for some fresh air. 

As usual, Nikiforov came in the morning with rum and a light meal. There was a few minutes of forced politeness, but this time when he went to leave, Yuuri spoke up. “Um, Captain, sir?” he started awkwardly, not really sure how to address him. 

“Hmm?” Victor asked, looking over his shoulder. 

“Would I be able to get some fresh air?” He realized it was a little weird that a prisoner ask that of his guard, but... Nikiforov had been the most pleasant jailer Yuuri could imagine. 

Victor thought it over, long enough that Yuuri was sure he'd say no. “Alright,” he agreed slowly. “But not for long, and you must stay close to me. If you try to run away from me I can't be held responsible for what happens to you, understand?” 

“There's really nowhere to run to, is there?”

Victor grinned. “That's the spirit.” He opened the cabin door, which by now he rarely bothered to lock while he was inside with Yuuri, and motioned for the young man to come over. He grasped Yuuri tightly around the bicep and urged him out onto the deck. 

“Oh,” Yuuri gasped. Was he going to hang on to him the whole time? 

Apparently so. While it was a little humiliating being lead around like a dog on a leash, Yuuri was more relieved to feel the sun and breeze after three days holed up inside. The water was a gorgeous blue, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. On such a beautiful day he could almost forget he was in a life threatening situation. 

Nikiforov walked him around the entirety of the ship twice before Yuuri found the nerve to strike up conversation. He found it particularly hard with so many eyes on them. “So. How long have you been in this line of work?” 

Victor looked down at the shorter man out of the corner of his eye, amused smirk in place. So casual a question seemed out of place between them. “For as long as I can remember,” he answered. “I was born at sea, I've spent my life upon it, and I imagine I'll die out here too. I've never cared much for the mainland.” 

Yuuri had debated on whether or not he wanted to get to know this man. He fully intended on making a break for it once they found dry land, and was also hoping on a rescue attempt as a plan b. Was it even worth it to get Nikiforov's life story? What would it really change? 

Still, curiosity got the better of him. “Were you born on a pirate ship then?” 

“Not exactly,” he laughed. “But it might as well have been.” Yuuri allowed himself to be turned around and steered back the way they came. Victor knew he was waiting on some kind of elaboration. Oddly enough he felt like he wanted to share. “My mother was a criminal. I don't know what she did, to be honest, but after she was arrested, she was put on a ship for Sakhalin.” 

“You grew up in one of the penal colonies?” 

“Don't get ahead of yourself,” Victor chuckled. “We... _I_ didn't make it. My mother was pregnant when she was arrested. She didn't realize it and neither did anyone else. By the time she was trialed and exiled... well it was too late to do anything about it then, wasn't it? I imagine the plan was to allow her to raise me in the colony. But there was a little interruption to our journey.” 

Yuuri saw where this was going, and stopped in his tracks, staring up at the captain. “You're not serious.” 

“Oh but I am.” 

“You're mother had you while on board a convict ship, and during that trip...pirates showed up?” 

“We do tend to come at the most inconvenient of times,” Victor smirked. “It's a gift.” 

“Pirates kidnapped you as an infant.” Victor shrugged noncommittally, but Yuuri still took that as affirmation. “Why? What would they even want an infant for?” 

“You'd be surprised how much wealthy families are willing to pay for healthy babies,” he said. “It's actually an avenue I've considered exploring myself.” 

Yuuri's eyes bulged. “After living that, you would do the same to another child?” 

“What's the worst that could happen?” Victor asked. “They end up like me?” 

“Yes. I mean...” 

Victor just laughed. “Am I really so terrible?” He expected another yes, but instead it was silent for a moment. 

“No,” Yuuri said quietly. “I don't think you're terrible.” 

Victor stopped, and Yuuri was jerked to a halt as well. His expression was unreadable for a moment, and then he shook his head and began in the direction of his quarters. "You've had enough air for the day." A minute later Yuuri was deposited into what he was starting to consider 'his' room. "Someone will bring you lunch later."

Yuuri was disappointed when the first mate brought his meal a few hours later. He wasn't sure why he was so disappointed, seeing as it should have been no different, but he had gotten used to seeing the captain three times a day. 

Maybe it was the way the first mate was staring at him that was making him miss Nikiforov. 

"Um. Thank you," Yuuri said politely, scooting over to the table warily to pick up the food. 

Chris looked him over carefully. "Where's your soul mark?" he finally asked. 

Yuuri swallowed nervously, unconsciously tugging his shirt sleeves down past his wrist on his right hand. "Um. It's...it's not very accessible," he lied. Though that probably wouldn't matter, he realized, he could be ordered to take off whatever clothing was necessary. His stomach flipped uncomfortably at the thought. 

"You have a wedding coming up I hear." Yuuri nodded. "So you've found your soulmate?"

"...I suppose so," he said. Yuuko seemed like she'd be a good friend. He was certain if given enough time they could grow to really care for each other. 

"You suppose so?" Chris asked. "Shouldn't you know whether or not you're marrying your soulmate?” Yuuri didn't know what to say, so he decided to stay quiet. “What does your mark look like?” No answer. “Tell me what your mark is,” he demanded, but Yuuri just quietly stared at the floor. When it was clear Yuuri was not going to reveal anything else Chris sighed and left, locking the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chris is determined to get to the bottom of this!
> 
> Next week may be a little late. Work has been nuts, yet I decided to do two stories at once anyway xD Please let me know what you think so far!


	3. Interesting Development Last Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris debates whether or not he should confess to being Phichit's soulmate. Victor tries to learn more about Yuuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew I was going to be really busy Friday, so I worked on this all night to get it up early so I don't forget/get too busy with work. Enjoy! :) And keep me in your thoughts, I have three shifts of 7a-7p Fri-Sun!!

It was two more days of sailing before they reached their destination. Their flag of Russia was flying again, and they confidently sailed into port. Victor was fairly certain he had every harbor in the world bribed at this point, and threat of capture didn't even cross his mind. 

“Now remember,” he said to Cao Bin and a few other crew members, “Bring back something edible, with a decent shelf life. I don't want to stop again any time soon.” 

With supplies being taken care of, Victor and Chris went to meet one of their contacts in the dingiest bar in the town. They explained the need to reach Lord Hirome with the ransom demands, and that time was of the essence. Victor may have exaggerated a little, claiming he grew weary of dragging the brat around and was sorely tempted to feed him to the sharks if he didn't get a good offer soon. 

He knew it would take some time to reach the man, and he couldn't just wait around for a reply. With the request for fifty thousand dollars came the instructions to arrive in Hasetsu in three weeks. They were not to seek Victor out, he would get word to them, and at that point the return of Yuuri would be further discussed via a middleman. 

They stayed docked another day, Victor allowing the crew to stretch their legs, engage the local women, and eat their fill before they were to be packed like sardines aboard the ship once more. Yuuri looked helplessly out the window. Freedom was so close yet so far. Nikiforov never lost track of that damn key. 

They set sail the following afternoon. It was only a seven day journey to Hasetsu, so with the extra time on his hands Victor was willing to chase after a particularly loaded cargo ship they'd heard about while in town. Yuuri heard the commotion, felt the ship rock from the cannons, and selfishly wondered what would happen to him if more hostages were taken on board. Would he get the boot to the cells down below? 

“Such precious cargo _and_ a son of an adversary? It's my lucky day,” grinned Victor. He watched with pleasure as his latest capture was taken aboard his ship. After disabling the transporter so that they couldn't pursue them, they were off once again. 

“What shall we do with this one, Captain?” 

“Do you need another bed warmer, Captain?” asked one of the crew. As Chris had predicted, it hadn't gone unnoticed by the crew that their leader was spending every night with Yuuri. 

“Oh no,” said Victor, shaking his head. “I'm quite happy with my current pretty pet. Take this man downstairs.” Victor knew what his crew assumed about him and Yuuri, and it was easier to play along than explain he'd gone soft. 

Over the course of the week Yuuri was starting to feel less and less like a prisoner. When Nikiforov took him out on the ship daily to walk around the deck, he no longer felt the need to grip him. Instead they walked side by side, talking so casually that Yuuri sometimes felt dizzy if he thought about it too hard. The crew still stared at him, but it was more curious than malicious. 

Though Victor hadn't planned on stopping so soon, his original goal had been to get to Hasetsu early and scope out the situation, perhaps see if any traps were in place, Chris insisted on making a small detour.

“I know you're only here to see Phichit,” Victor sighed as they strolled together down the dock. “This sudden 'sickness' that overcame you isn't fooling anyone.”

Chris grinned. “You still stopped.”

“Only because you would have been insufferable otherwise.” They reached Phichit's bar, Victor letting Chris enter first, and immediately he was engulfed in a hug, as if the man had known to expect him. 

“Chris!” Phichit squealed as Chris spun him in the air. “What are you doing here?”

“Victor and I had some business in the area, and we thought we'd stop in for a beer while we're at it.” He set him down on his feet gently and Phichit starting hopping toward the bar.

“Of course! I'll be right back!”

Chris watched him go with a dazed expression, and Victor rolled his eyes. He was hopeless. “Are you going to tell him this time?” he asked.

Chris snapped out of it and lightly smacked his friend. “No. I told you, I'm waiting for the right moment.”

“What does that even mean? What's the right moment?”

“I'll know when it's right,” Chris said. Even with him on the other side of the room, he felt the gold medal on his shoulder reacting. He scratched at it, knowing it would be no good but trying all the same. When Phichit winked at him and indicted it would be just a moment longer for their drinks, he swore his mark flared up for a second. He wondered if the cross on Phichit's ankle was just as sensitive.

He returned with two beers in hand. “Here you go, boys,” he said cheerily, and Victor mused over how carefree he was while dealing with two world renowned criminals. That he called them _boys_ without a second thought.

“Thanks, love,” Chris said, and Phichit's face heated up, noticeable even in the dark lighting. “How've you been?” 

Victor tuned the two out shortly, enjoying his beer and relative peace and quiet. 

But not for long. 

“Victor!” squealed two high pitched voices. He turned to see two women making a bee line for him. He braced himself for impact before they both leaped onto him from either side. 

“How are you!” 

“We've missed you!” 

“Why did you stay away so long?”

Victor let out an amused sigh as he tried to untangle all their limbs. “I'm sorry girls, but duty calls. And would you mind not shouting my name so loud next time? I'd rather not be recognized and hanged.” 

Their eyes widened dramatically. “Oh no! We're sorry!” 

“We won't do it again!” 

Victor chuckled. “Thank you. And it's good to see you too, Sara,” he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “And you, Mila.” They giggled and pulled him over to a table, eager to hear all his exciting tales from the sea. 

Phichit and Chris watched the supposedly fearsome pirate be manhandled by two petite serving girls. “I keep hearing all these stories from sailors,” Phichit began, “About the elusive Captain Nikiforov who swoops in under the cover and night, ruthlessly attacks and then makes off with their treasure, and then I see _this_ and I can't help but think there has to be two pirates with the same name.” 

“He can be terrifying when he wants to be,” Chris assured him. “There have been a few times even I was afraid of him. But once he decides you're worthy of his trust and friendship...” They watched as Sara stole Victor's hat and tried it on while Mila was twirling his pistol around her finger. “He'll let you walk all over him.” 

“I'm glad he's got you to help keep him in line,” said Phichit. “I'm glad you have each other. I worry about you two. Every time I hear they've strung up a pirate in the square...” 

“Hey,” Chris cooed, reaching for his hand. “They'll never catch us. I promise.” 

Phichit placed his other hand on top of his, squeezing gently. “I wish you would stay.”

“Phichit...” 

“There are plenty of jobs around. You could do _anything_. And I would never have to watch you sail away worrying I'll never see you again.” 

“It's not that easy. I can't just abandon Victor,” he protested. 

“Why can you abandon _me_ so easily?” 

“I'm not – I always come back, don't I?” Phichit pouted. “Don't I?” pressed Chris.

Phichit nodded slowly. “Yes.” 

Chris felt his soul mark rippling on his shoulder. He was meant to be here with Phichit. He knew that. But he also couldn't imagine a life other than the one he'd always known, sailing beside Victor. Could it ever be possible for him to have both? “I promise I will always come back,” he said firmly. _One day I may even stay._

Phichit shifted a bit, and Chris saw his left foot rubbing at his ankle. He wondered if he had figured out what Chris's name meant. If he guessed that Chris had spent over a month in search of the meaning behind Phichit. _To win_ _,_ he had learned. And what more could you win than gold? He was embarrassed now to think he had assumed the gold coin on his shoulder was pointing him to Victor, a pirate in constant search of gold. It had made sense at the time.

He wondered if Phichit noticed his mark reacted when he came to town. That the cross on Phichit's ankle and the gold on Chris's shoulder meant they were soulmates, that this was destined to work out somehow. Or at least, he hoped that guaranteed it worked out. _Tell him_ , he thought to himself. _Give him something to believe in._

“I brought you something,” he said instead, pulling his hand away to dig into his pocket. He pulled out a silver heart shaped locket and held it out for him. Phichit smiled, eyes still a little sad, and plucked the necklace from his hand, holding it up in the poor light to inspect it. “It's from Germany.” 

“It's beautiful,” he said. “Is it stolen?” It wouldn't be the first time a few trophies from their raids ended up in his bar. 

“Bought and paid for by yours truly,” he corrected. 

“With stolen gold,” he guessed. 

“Well,” Chris smirked, “You got me there.” 

“I love it.” Phichit leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “Help me put it on.” Chris did so happily, and worked on changing the topic of conversation to his tales of glory out on the sea. 

Meanwhile, out on the ship, Yuuri was squinting in the poor candle light, trying to read one of the few books Victor had on hand. While he had nothing in Japanese, there were a few in English. Anything to help pass the time. Most of the crew was in town, not that that really affected him, seeing as they didn't interact with him, but he couldn't even listen to their antics through the door. 

As the night wore on, Yuuri wondered if Nikiforov was going to spend the night in town. He'd heard several men talking about the whore houses and their eagerness to get there, and he wondered if the captain indulged in those types of things. He found himself having a hard time imagining that. Or maybe he simply didn't want to.

The doorknob turned, and he barely had time to think it was strange that he didn't hear the key turn as well, when the door opened and someone who was very much _not_ Nikiforov entered. For a moment he assumed it was a food delivery, but why would it be so late at night? 

The look in the mans eyes was chilling. “Well, well,” he smiled darkly. “It appears someone forgot to lock the door.” 

Yuuri frowned. Had it really been open this whole time? He'd given up trying it days ago, always finding it locked. He wondered if the man was just going to gloat before locking him in, but instead the man came inside, shutting the door behind him. Yuuri swallowed, very uncomfortable with this. 

“How's the captain's pet?” asked the stranger, advancing slowly toward the bed. “Broken in yet?” 

Confused, Yuuri skittered back on the bed into the corner. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. 

“It really isn't fair he keeps you all to himself. A _real_ captain would share his toys with the crew.” 

_What the hell?_ wondered Yuuri, not following at first. It took a moment for him to realize that _he_ was the supposed toy. Before he could protest the man pounced, grabbing Yuuri by the front of his shirt and dragging him down to the middle of the bed. “Stop!” he gasped, trying to push away the hands currently trying to unbutton his shirt, twisting violently to get away. 

“You've got a lot more fight left in you than I expected,” laughed the man. “I thought you'd be used to this by now.” Frustrated with the buttons, he got a good grip on either side and yanked the garment open. 

“Get off me!” Yuuri screamed, thrashing and kicking. 

“Shh shh shh,” he urged, clamping a hand over Yuuri's mouth. “Mustn't be too loud now.” Yuuri did his best to bite him, to no avail. 

“If the captain hadn't been so _selfish_ and kept you hidden away in here, maybe this wouldn't have come as such a surprise.” He pawed at the belt on Yuuri's pants, irritated that couldn't be so easily removed. “Hold still you little tease.” Realizing he would need both hands for the belt, he released Yuuri's mouth. Yuuri shouted at the top of his lungs, aware most of the crew was gone, and that even if someone did hear him, it didn't guarantee to attract anyone better than this man. 

Victor and Chris were just crossing the gang plank when they heard the cry. They darted toward their quarters, each checking their own room, and when Victor kicked in his door he saw red. 

“Get your fucking hands off him, Cao!” he shouted, grabbing hold of his crew members shirt, pulling him off the bed and throwing him across the room in one motion. “What the hell is going on here?” He looked from a terrified, disheveled Yuuri to the fuming Cao Bin on the floor. He hoisted the man up by his collar and shoved him out onto the deck. “How dare you enter my cabin without my permission,” he hissed. 

“Your little pet looked lonely,” said Cao. “I was only trying to keep him company.” 

Victor was seething. “If you ever touch him again, it will be the last thing you do.” A few other shipmates had come to see what all the commotion was about, and Victor looked at each of them in turn. “That goes for all of you! You hear me? He's _mine_!” Still breathing heavy, he turned on his heel and stomped into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. 

Yuuri was still catching his breath when Victor returned to the room. He wanted to say thank you, and he wanted to cry, but all he could do was sit there in stunned silence.  
  
“Are you alright?” Victor asked. Yuuri considered in the grand scheme of things that he was, so he nodded. Shaken, but not hurt. “Cao's a bastard, but I didn't expect any of them to come in here.”  
  
“It wasn't locked,” Yuuri said.  
  
“It wasn't?” asked Victor. “I suppose I've gotten careless.” He stopped compulsively locking it over a week ago, but he normally remembered to before he left for long periods. Especially considering they were docked, and Yuuri could have just walked away.  
  
“He thought...he thought that you and I...” Yuuri flushed and couldn't continue.  
  
“Yes,” said Victor tiredly. “Most of the crew are under that impression.” Yuuri went from pink to red, but also felt justified in having feared that so heavily in the beginning. “Are you really alright?”  
  
Yuuri nodded. “My clothes though...” He motioned to his bare chest framed by frayed material.  
  
It only now occurred to Victor that Yuuri had been wearing the same clothing for almost two weeks now. “Hold on,” he said, moving to the chest at the foot of the bed and picking through it. He tossed a shirt and pair of pants onto the bed, followed by another set for Yuuri to use later. “Here.”  
  
The young man scooped them up and went over to the table, setting them down before pulling off what was left of his shirt. He was careful to keep his wrist out of Victor's line of vision, though the man was respectfully averting his eyes. Victor's shirt was clearly too big for him, but he appreciated it all the same, and anyway the long sleeves would help hide his mark.  
  
In clean clothes he felt much better. He padded back over to the bed where Victor was making himself comfortable. He waited until the captain looked up at him, and said, “Thank you for pulling him off. And...thank you for never having done that yourself. You've had a lot of chances to do... _something_ , and you never have.”  
  
Victor smiled lightly. “Wouldn't dream of it,” he said sincerely. “While you're on this ship, you're under my protection.”  
  
Yuuri couldn't help himself. “Why?” he asked. Finally it was Victor's turn to stay quiet. “Why have you been so nice to me?”  
  
“ _Nice_ to you?” gasped Victor. “I kidnapped you!”  
  
“Anyone else would have killed me,” Yuuri said. “You kept me alive.”  
  
“I locked you up.”  
  
“You could have put me down below.”  
  
“I'm not that heartless.”  
  
“You put that other man you caught a few days ago down in the cells.”  
  
“Well he deserved it.”  
  
“And I don't?” asked Yuuri.  
  
“No.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
Victor frowned, dizzy. “Because you're...different.” Special. “Now if you don't mind, I'm ready to go to sleep.” Victor normally slept with his shirt on, but it was a particularly warm night, so he tugged it over his head. Yuuri was still standing nearby, and went to settle on his usual spot on the floor, when he felt his mark ripple again. He clamped a hand on it even though Victor wasn't looking his way.  
  
He looked down at the pillow and blanket on the floor, then over to Victor and the bed. Victor had more than proved he could be trusted by now. He gathered up his bedding and went over to the pirate. “Sir?”  
  
Victor huffed, not used to being called sir, like he was some gentleman. “Hm?”  
  
“Could I.... That is, the floor...”  
  
“Ah.” He sat up and moved over toward the wall. “You held out longer than I thought you would.” After making room for Yuuri he rolled onto his side, facing the wall. Yuuri stayed close to the other edge of the bed, still uncomfortable but happy to be off the wood floor. After the events of that night, he felt surprisingly safe being this close to Nikiforov.  
  
He turned on his side and was greeted with a view of Victor's back. With the limited moonlight coming through the small window, Yuuri could see a dark spot on his skin just below his left shoulder blade. Curious, he moved as close as he dared, and strained in the poor lighting to see. His eyes widened, and a gasp escaped him. He reached out and almost touched it before Victor mumbled. “What?”  
  
Yuuri shook his head. What was he doing. He rolled over to face away from the man, saying, “Just thinking about earlier.”  
  
“Well don't,” Victor suggested. “Get some sleep, Hirome.”  
  
The young man blinked. That was the first time Victor had ever addressed him by name, incorrectly or not. Had they really gone two weeks without introductions? No wonder Victor hadn't figured this out yet. Should he tell him? Maybe he wouldn't notice. Maybe he wouldn't care.  
  
“That's...that's not actually my name,” he said quietly, still facing away from the man, partially hoping he wouldn't hear or engage.  
  
“Hm?” mumbled Victor, turning onto his back. “What do you mean? Your Lord Hirome's nephew, aren't you?”  
  
“Yes. But. There's a bit more to it than that.”  
  
Victor waited, but it was silent. “Go on,” he urged. “What's the story?”  
  
Yuuri rolled over to face him. “My uncle's name is Itoku Hirome. Most assume that I am also a Hirome.” Victor realized with a jolt that he'd never bothered to confirm that. “He is my mother's brother. So, when she married, well...” He was stalling and they both knew it. “Of course she took my father's last name...”  
  
“Which is?” pressed Victor, finding himself surprisingly anxious. His prisoner seemed to be deciding on whether or not to answer. If it wasn't Hirome, then there was a chance that all of the conflicting emotions from the past two weeks might make sense. “What is your name?” he asked again.  
  
Yuuri shyly caught his gaze. After a steadying breath he said, “Katsuki Yuuri.”  
  
“Katsuki Yuuri,” Victor repeated, suddenly finding it hard to breath. He didn't know what either meant. If he could decipher them... He knew most soul marks focused on the first name, so he asked, “What does Katsuki mean?” as he tried to ignore the sudden spike of heat on his shoulder blade.  
  
“Win season,” Yuuri said quietly. Victor's eyes widened, and Yuuri wondered if that was a good reaction or bad. Regardless, he added, “But that's my surname. Japanese tends to be opposite of a lot of languages in which name comes first. My given name is Yuuri.”

Victor turned over this new information quickly, puzzling over each syllable. His jaw dropped slightly.

Yuuri nodded. He watched Victor's eyes widen in recognition, saw him instinctively shift his shoulder. He wondered if the mark under his shoulder blade was itching as terribly as the one on his wrist. “It means-”

“Lily,” they said together. Victor pushed himself to sit upright, clearly running this over and over in his mind to make sure he'd come to the right conclusion. Yuuri stole a glance at the gold coin. When the moonlight hit it just right you could see the faint shadow of a lily in the center.  
  
“Yuuri...” he started breathlessly, wondering how to break the news to him. How do you explain to the man you kidnapped and locked in a cabin for two weeks you're supposed to be soulmates? “My mark-”

“ _Mine is a V_ ,” he hurried to say, thrusting his arm out and pulling back his sleeve. Victor looked at it in disbelief. “I always thought it was supposed to mean it was futile. That it would never amount to anything. I thought it was an X at first, how many Japanese names start with X? And the swords had been so smudged... But it's sharpened to such clarity recently.”  
  
Victor's jaw dropped again. “You've known this whole time?” he gasped.  
  
“Well...” He didn't know what to say in defense of that.  
  
“Why didn't you tell me?” Victor demanded.  
  
“I thought maybe it was one sided,” he said quietly. There had been rare instances before where the person perfect for you was just a little more perfect for someone else. Some people disregarded their marks altogether and married whoever they saw fit, fate be damned. “Or that you might not be interested. We are...very different, after all.”  
  
Victor's bewildered expression softened. Yes, he could completely understand why Yuuri would have kept this to himself. They hadn't met under the most friendly of circumstances. He had threatened Yuuri's and his uncle's life on more than one occasion, and despite his impressive efforts of hospitality considering their captor/captive relationship, he had not been very welcoming.  
  
The enormity of the situation was hitting him hard. “I kidnapped my soulmate,” he said in awe, and Yuuri had to admit the word made him shiver. “I set a ransom for my soulmate.” Was he going to hell or what?  
  
“About that,” Yuuri said shyly. “This wouldn't happen to change anything, would it?”  
  
Victor still needed to process this. But for now, “The plan stays the same.”  
  
Yuuri was surprised. He had held out some hope that he might be let go if Victor knew the truth. “You mean I'm to be your prisoner indefinitely?”  
  
Oh, thought Victor, he had never told Yuuri the plan in the first place. “No. We're on our way to Hasetsu now, where we will negotiate a trade for your release.”  
  
“Oh.” Okay, that was progress. Better than staying aboard this ship his whole life.

They spent several hours that night talking, putting a real effort into understanding the other's point of view. While they hardly fell asleep in each others arms, there was noticeably less tension between them when they finally drifted off to sleep.  
  
In the morning Victor went through his normal routine of dressing, and when it came time to leave the cabin he pulled the key out of his pocket out of habit. He looked at it, and then at Yuuri, who was watching him intently from under the covers. “I'm still going to lock you in,” he explained, “Though honestly, it's more for locking the crew out.” Yuuri nodded.  
  
Victor went next door to Chris's room and let himself in. His best friend was at his table, eating an apple while pouring over a few different maps.  
  
“Thanks for knocking,” he sighed. At the serious look on Victor's face, he straightened up and asked, “What's going on, Victor?”  
  
“Well,” he started. “Interesting development last night.”  
  
Even through the thick wooden wall, Yuuri could hear the first mate shout, “I KNEW IT!”

* * *

  
Chris and Victor had planned to set sail that morning, but instead they announced they would remain one more day. They went to Phichit's bar, where they drank and discussed the plan for Yuuri.  
  
“Are you sure you don't want to just let him go?” Chris asked.  
  
“We're nowhere near his home,” Victor pointed out. “It would be crueler to abandon him penniless and alone, wouldn't it?”  
  
“He could get word to his family somehow.”  
  
What family? Other than the uncle Victor wasn't certain he could see yet again and keep a level enough head to reason with. “There's also our reputation to think of. We've never just let anyone go before.”  
  
Chris shrugged. “True. I imagine we'd lose the crew's respect, at least a little. You've already thrown them off enough with the way you've been acting lately. And the public... Ships might not surrender as easily as they do if they don't think we're serious. Not that we couldn't take them if they fought back, but it does make it so much smoother when they cower and surrender right away.”  
  
Victor downed his beer and flagged Phichit over for another one. “I feel twice as guilty as I did before,” he admitted. “I should have just taken his uncle. Everything would have been so much simpler.”  
  
“What about his fiance?” asked Chris.  
  
Victor had completely forgotten about her. “Oh,” he said slowly. “Right. We need to get him back in time for that...”  
  
Chris saw his face fall. His soulmate was already promised to someone else. Not that there was any reason to entertain the thought of Yuuri being around longer than another week or so. “We could just keep him,” he suggested half-heartedly.  
  
Victor laughed. “No we can't. We'll take him back, get the money, and move on. We've interrupted his life enough as it is. Though I'm making it seventy-five thousand now.” Just to be spiteful.  
  
They stayed at the bar until late afternoon, Phichit enjoying his extra day with Chris very much. Victor decided to let them enjoy themselves alone, and headed back to the ship to deliver an early dinner to Yuuri. He stopped by the recently stocked mess hall, grabbed a few things, then went up to his room. Yuuri was at the window staring out at the small town. “Good evening.”  
  
“Hello,” Yuuri said, turning to look at him. Victor and Chris hadn't come back for lunch, so he was looking eagerly at the plate in the pirate's hands. “How was the trip?”  
  
Victor shrugged. “Same as ever.” He held the food out and Yuuri quickly swiped it. “I'm sorry we missed lunch.”  
  
“It's okay,” Yuuri said around a mouthful of bread. Victor wondered how he was always so forgiving.  
  
Victor watched Yuuri for a few minutes before asking, “When is your wedding?”  
  
The young man frowned in confusion for a moment before he remembered Yuuko. “Um. Not for a few months yet. We really did just meet a week before you found me.”  
  
“Hm.” Victor searched for something else to talk about. “Tell me about your life,” he said, and then added, “Please.” He wondered what kind of person the universe thought fit to pair him with.  
  
Yuuri swallowed another mouthful of bread. “What do you want to know?”  
  
“Anything. Everything.”  
  
“Well...” Yuuri trailed off in thought. Where to begin? “I grew up in my family's hot springs resort. It was in the family for generations. The only one still operating in our town, actually. We were all very proud of it. It had a little dining area too, my mom... That was her territory. My mom made the best katsudon.” Yuuri's eyes dropped to his hands, tearing at the bread idly.

Victor easily felt the shift in his attitude. Heard the past tense loud and clear. Was Yuuri worried he'd never go back there? That Victor would keep him stowed away in this room forever? “You'll be back soon,” he tried, hoping to comfort him. “It'll be like you never left.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Yuuri choked out a laugh and covered his eyes with one hand. “No it won't. The inn is gone. My family's gone. All except that poor excuse of an uncle.”

It was rare for Victor to feel sheepish these days, but he was close to it at the very least. “I see,” he said awkwardly, “I didn't know...” Trying again, he asked, “What happened?”

Yuuri took a steadying breath and lowered his hand, looking determinedly at Victor. “I can't talk about it,” he said. “Not yet. Please don't ask me to.”

Victor's confidence fell further still. Taking a step toward the door, he said, “I shouldn't be prying anyway. I'll leave you alone.”

Having been left to his thoughts for most of the day already, Yuuri quickly said, “No! It's okay.” Victor tilted his head to the side in question. “We can talk. Just. Not about that.”

Nodding, Victor crossed the room to sit at the table, angling the chair to face Yuuri who was perched on the edge of the bed. “Alright then.” He thought a moment, then settled on something Yuuri had said earlier. “What's katsudon?” he asked, struggling to pronounce the word.

Yuuri's expression brightened a bit. “Pork cutlet bowl?” Victor nodded, a little more familiar with it by that name. “It's the most delicious thing in the world. It was my mom's specialty, so we had it all the time. Everyone who came through the inn raved about it.”

Victor smiled. “I regret not visiting Hasetsu earlier. Sounds like quite the treat.”

“We liked to say she was famous world wide, what with all the international guests we served.” He sighed wistfully, longing for the easy days of life at the onsen. He added under his breath, “I always wanted to see the world. This wasn't exactly how I envisioned that happening.” Victor laughed, and though Yuuri hadn't entirely been joking, the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile. “I bet you've been everywhere.”

Victor shrugged with a grin. “I have gotten around.”

Yuuri's eyes were bright with envy. “I've done some traveling with my uncle, for his company. It's not quite what I pictured either.”

“Where did you go?”  
  
“All over, really. Somewhere different every time. I love traveling, especially when my uncle doesn't come along. He always keeps it very short and direct, if he didn't have business somewhere then it wasn't worth going to. I don't view it the same way.” After a moment of silence, he asked, “Where's your favorite place to go?”  
  
“Oh, what a question.” He tapped his chin as he thought it over. “I do enjoy Ireland.”  
  
“ _Ireland_?”  
  
“Something wrong with that?” Victor smirked.  
  
“No, no, I just expected something more...exotic.”  
  
“Sorry to disappoint, but even pirates like to relax now and then.” He took a sip of his rum. “Go on. You would travel, and...”  
  
“Right. Well, that's how I spent most of my time recently. Learning this new...family business I guess.” He had to remind himself some days that Itoku was an uncle and not just an unbearable boss.  
  
Victor picked through the bowl to find something to munch on himself. “You two are in the business of exporting goods?” he asked. “That sounds...interesting,” he lied.  
  
“That's more his thing,” Yuuri said. “I didn't want anything to do with it. Mostly because it would mean spending all day and night in his presence. We don't get on very well. It's best if we have some time apart.”  
  
“That must have disappointed him.” His uncle had no family of his own, no one to train to take over for him one day. The man thought it was fate that Yuuri was steered in his direction. Yuuri wasn't able to find any silver lining in his situation.  
  
“Yes. Very much so. Less because he wanted me there, and more because everyone expected me to be at his side.” A guilty look slowly appeared. “To be honest though, I've been a terrible student. I know I could excel if I tried, but... My heart isn't in this. I don't know why I let myself get caught up in it. I hardly even know the man. I just felt so lonely after the accident, finding any family at all seemed precious after that. But over the years....I've been trying to distance myself from my uncle. Look into other possibilities. I haven't had the nerve to tell him outright though.”  
  
Victor grinned, irrationally satisfied that Yuuri did not blindly follow his uncle's wishes. “And instead you do...what?”  
  
“I look after our horses.” He could tell by Victor's expression that was not what he expected. “It started as a way to avoid my uncle,” he explained. “He enjoyed owning them and showing them off, but he very rarely went down to the stables. Naturally that made me gravitate there. The stablemaster was a grumpy old man, but he'd let me help out. Over the years he taught me more and more, and when he eventually retired...I kind of just...took over.” Victor laughed. “What?”  
  
“I just imagined someone of your...position doing something that involved a little less mucking out the stalls and a little more sitting on your ass.”  
  
“First of all, I don't have any position. He married into it. He may be a lord but I was far removed from that for most of my life. And second, don't scoff at what I do. It's more than that,” he said. “Have you ever put a horse through a show competition? It's not easy.”  
  
“Yuuri,” and oh, he still liked saying that name, “I can't promise you I've even seen a horse up close.”  
  
“You're joking. How do you get around?”  
  
He gestured around them. “I do prefer to travel via the sea,” he reminded him.  
  
“But. But you _have_ to have gone _somewhere_ on land beyond a harbor town.”  
  
“Very rarely,” he admitted. “And when the mood strikes, I don't just have a horse in my pocket, do I?”  
  
“I thought you'd just steal one,” Yuuri said honestly.  
  
“Perhaps I will, if you feel so strongly about them there must be something to it. Though when I do come ashore, and it's not to a town, the terrain we cross isn't suitable for four legged friends.”  
  
Yuuri's eyes widened in interest. “Do you mean perilous cliffs, hard to reach caves and secluded coves?” Victor smirked. “I can't tell if you're serious or pulling my leg.”  
  
“While I do hate to live out the cliché, perilous cliffs, hard to reach caves and secluded coves _are_ convenient places for a pirate to hide. Until this moment I considered there to be no disadvantage, but now I feel horribly cheated out of a stable.”  
  
Yuuri laughed. It was quite surreal sitting here, laughing and joking around with Nikiforov. He could be so intimidating and dangerous, and yet so pleasant and disarming at times too, enough for Yuuri to forget he was imprisoned here. If they had met under any other circumstances, he'd find him quite charming.  
  
“Well, if you're ever in Hasetsu again, I'd be happy to show you Lightning. He's a bit headstrong, but he's the best jumper out of all of them. He may even let you ride him, if you prove you're worthy of him.”  
  
“How exactly would I do that?” asked Victor.  
  
“He's a fan of peppermint candies.”  
  
Victor chuckled and took another swig of rum. “I'll try to remember that.” Wait a minute, “I thought you said you'd left Hasetsu for Higashi?”  
  
“Never made it to Higashi, did I?” he pointed out. Victor acted like he held no responsibility for that, looking innocently curious. “We weren't even going there, we were actually going to Naha. After our first encounter with you, where you threw us into the sea, we had the good fortune of a fishing boat coming across us the following morning before sharks or exhaustion claimed us.”  
  
“Ah, that's it. I wondered.”  
  
“They took us to a little town in the middle of nowhere on the south side of Kyushu, and seeing as how we had _nothing_ thanks to you, there was no point in going to Naha. We made our way home to Hasetsu to stay with my uncle's friends.”  
  
“What about the horses?” asked Victor. He certainly didn't remember seeing them on the ship.  
  
“It was too impractical to take them with us,” said Yuuri, who clearly looked like he disagreed with this statement. “We sold them and the stable before we left. My uncle said we could just buy new animals when we settled down in Naha.” As if it were that easy to abandon the only living creatures who seemed to give a damn about him. “The grooms agreed to let me stop by and see them if I'm around,” he added.  
  
“If you're back in Hasetsu, aren't you back at your uncle's original estate?”  
  
“No,” said Yuuri, a little sadly. “It was sold before the move too. We're staying in a little house in town that belongs to Yuuko's family for now.” A far cry from the sprawling acres they used to own, but Yuuri found that he was okay with the downgrade. Though he did miss the horses.  
  
Oh. Her again. “Is she from Hasetsu?” Yuuri nodded. “Then what were you doing out on the ocean two weeks ago?”  
  
“Her father's side still lives nearby, but most of her mother's family have moved to the south,” he said. He hadn't been paying that much attention, spending most of his time dreading the whole thing. “I was on my way to meet them before the wedding.”  
  
Victor was quiet for a moment, ignoring the rippling under his shoulder blade. “Do you want to marry her?”  
  
Yuuri hesitated, then answered with an honest, “No.”  
  
“Then why agree?”  
  
“I already told you,” Yuuri frowned. “ _You_ forced me into this situation. I have no other option.”  
  
“Your uncle is one of the wealthiest businessmen around!” countered Victor.  
  
“It's all tied up in operations,” Yuuri said. “We liquidated some assets but this takes time. We weren't prepared to have absolutely nothing on hand.”  
  
“Well that was just poor judgment on your part, having everything in one place,” said Victor defensively. Like it wasn't his fault for taking it.  
  
Suddenly Yuuri found him far less charming. This was the man that ruined his life. He pushed the bowl away, appetite suddenly gone. “Of course you would say that. You take absolutely no responsibility for your actions. What do you care if the people you attack live or die? As long as you have the money in the end. That's all you care about, isn't it?” He rolled onto his side, facing the wall. “You're willing to sell your own soulmate.” Yuuri was hit with an urge to cry all of a sudden, but he swallowed it down and curled into a ball.  
  
Victor's irritation died down, and he was left there looking at the back of Yuuri, who was scrunched up against the wall, trying to be as far away from him as possible. Normally he wouldn't say this to anyone but Chris, but... “I'm sorry.”  
  
“No you're not.”  
  
“I _am_. I didn't know who you were. I didn't know that the chest was _everything_ you had. And I certainly didn't know your uncle would marry you off to a random woman.”  
  
“But that's the whole point,” Yuuri snapped, still looking away. “You don't know. You don't _care_. I bet you've never _once_ even _considered_ following up on anyone you've stolen from. Why would you? You got what you wanted. _You're_ happy, so what else matters?”  
  
Victor scoffed and stood up. He didn't have to stay here and be insulted. He stomped to the door and unlocked it hurriedly, walking through before slamming it shut and twisting the key.

* * *

Victor went down to Phichit's bar for a few more drinks. When Chris excused himself for a moment, Phichit made to stand up from the table as well, planning on getting the three of them another round. Victor caught his sleeve and tugged him back down. Phichit looked at him in surprise. “I need your help,” Victor said quietly.  
  
“Okay,” Phichit said cautiously, and leaned in to hear more.  
  


* * *

As a few hours passed, Yuuri's anger faded away, and he was left laying on the bed wondering if it had been wise to shout at Victor. What if he snapped into aggressive pirate mode and finally treated Yuuri like the helpless prisoner he was? By the time he heard the key turning in the door, he had convinced himself his luck had run out and Nikiforov was going to, at the very least, put him down below with the murderers. His heart hammered as the captain entered the small room.  
  
“Get up.”  
  
Yuuri's concerns were confirmed. “Wait,” he pleaded. “Could we talk about this?”  
  
“We don't have time,” Victor said gruffly, hoisting Yuuri up by his arm. “We leave in two hours.”  
  
“S-so?” he asked, confused at to why the ship departing put any time frame on changing his confinement.  
  
“You've been a burden for too long,” Victor explained, pulling him out of the cabin and down the deck toward the gang plank. “Lying around eating our food while my crew risks their lives every day. Make yourself useful.” Yuuri was terribly confused, even more so when Victor shoved something against his chest. He heard the clink of metal and realized it was a small sack of coins. Victor pointed toward the plank that lead to the docks. “Go and fetch what you've eaten so that we can replace what we've wasted on you.” He gave the man a quick shove.  
  
Yuuri was stunned. He was being told to get off the ship? Unaccompanied? “I don't understand.”  
  
“What's so difficult?” he asked. “You have two hours before we set sail. Bring back what you've eaten, and whatever you plan to live on the next week. I am through caring for you. If you don't buy enough and starve on the way to Hasetsu, that's your problem. Like you said, what do I care?”  
  
Yuuri stared at him. “I'm...going to the market...alone?”  
  
“I can't waste anymore time on you,” Victor said, turning his nose up. “Now hurry up. You must replace the rum you've had too, and the Admiral's Arms is the only tavern in this city that has drinks I can stomach. Ask for a man named Phichit, he'll tell you my preferred brand. Now go, we haven't got all day.”  
  
Yuuri took a few shaky steps, fully expecting someone to leap out of nowhere and cart him away. But nothing happened. He hurried to the plank, putting one foot on it before turning around to see if Nikiforov was following him. To his surprise the captain was still a good distance away watching him. Yuuri jingled the pouch lightly. There was easily ten times the amount needed to replace one man's rations for a week. What was going on? His mark was itching something terrible, as if it were desperately trying to get his attention. “Do you really trust me to come back?” he asked.  
  
The corner of Victor's mouth twisted up into a small, halfhearted smile. “Of course not.”  
  
Yuuri held his gaze another moment, and then he was hurrying down to the dock, swerving around slow moving sailors and running for the heart of town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victor still hasn't quite gotten the hang of how to be a good soulmate xD 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think so far! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri considers his options for the future. Victor thinks he made a big mistake letting Yuuri go.

_Go to the police_ , he was telling himself. True he had no idea where he was, but surely someone knew how to get in contact with his family. _Find help, do something!_

Instead he found all he was capable of was wandering the streets, at a complete loss for what just happened, still not believing that the infamous Captain Nikiforov just _let him go_.

The only trouble was, he wasn’t even sure what country he was in. What language did they speak here? Could he even ask for help? Judging by the writing on the shops, he knew at least this was no part of Japan. His best guess put him in Thailand.  
  
His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t had dinner yet. And really, the last two weeks haven’t been more than scraps. He hadn’t a clue where to go for a decent meal in this town. Scanning his surroundings, he opted for the first place he saw that looked like it would serve food.  
  
Inside the tavern was noisy and crowded. He pushed his way to an open seat at the bar. A pretty barmaid asked what he’d like, and after a bit of a struggle and lots of pointing at the menu, for the first time in ages he had meat in his belly. He scarfed the meal down and ordered another, suddenly famished. The woman was looking at him curiously, and he wondered if it was because he clearly hadn’t taken care of his appearance in a while and his clothes were oversized.  
  
Hunger finally satisfied, Yuuri was back to figuring out what he was supposed to do now. “Excuse me,” he said, when the barmaid stopped to refill his drink. “Can you tell me where I am?” She tilted her head in confusion, motioned for him to wait, and returned with a dark haired young man. The woman was explaining something to the new arrival, and Yuuri assumed he knew what she was doing, and said, “Japanese?” No response. “English?”

“Ah, yes!” The man grinned, and the woman smiled in relief and headed over to help out the other patrons. “How can I help you?”

“I was wondering if you could tell me where I am,” Yuuri said sheepishly, not wanting to completely admit he didn’t even know the country for sure.

The man laughed a little and said, “Bangkok.”

Ah, he was right about Thailand. Well. Yuuri supposed it could have been worse. “Do you happen to know a man named Phichit?”  
  
Instantly he gasped, “It’s you!” and hurried out from behind the bar.  
  
“What?” Yuuri asked, as the man took hold of his arm and started tugging him away from the bar. “Wait- What-”  
  
“The captain told me to expect you,” he said. For a moment Yuuri feared this was some sort of trap. He lead him to the back where the extra barrels of beer were stored.  
  
“What’s going on?” he panted.  
  
“Don’t worry, it’s all taken care of.” Phichit rummaged around the shelving units, plucking off a few bottles of rum that he thrust at Yuuri. He caught it, and watched him pull out a heavy looking sack from behind a cluster of barrels.  
  
“What’s all taken care of?” he asked.  
  
“Your escape,” Phichit said, like it was obvious. “You are the young man on the run from the law, aren’t you?”  
  
Uh, the law? “Um-”  
  
“Any man from Nikiforov’s crew has to be wanted in at least half a dozen countries,” he was saying, digging through the bag to make sure he had everything. Yuuri noticed he sounded almost proud of that statement, like it was something to strive for.  
  
“His _crew_?”  
  
Phichit was hardly listening to him. “You must have really done something wild if he thinks sending you away is better than his protection. I still don’t see why we couldn’t involve Chris in this,” he muttered. Satisfied his supplies were complete, he lugged it over to Yuuri. “It’s all I could get on short notice, but it’ll have to do. When you get to Shanghai, you’re on your own.”  
  
“ _Shanghai_?” he asked.  
  
Phichit put his hands on his hips. “Didn’t he tell you _any_ of this before he sent you to me?” Yuuri shook his head. “I can’t believe this. Well, you’re a little early, but in half an hour there will be a carriage out behind the tavern, you can use this door here.” He motioned to the one beside him. “It will take you to my cousin’s home in Bang Kruai. I sent a telegram to her saying your mother was ill and you needed a place to stay on your way to see her. _Do not_ mention Nikiforov. Her husband is a retired naval officer. Now I realize that pirates and the navy don’t mix, but it’s the best I could do under the circumstances.” He took a breath. “I’ve asked her to escort you to Ban Sang, you shouldn’t be alone in such trying times with your family problems, and all that. I thought having a woman with you might help you hide in plain sight. What pirate on the run would have a lady on his arm?”

He thrust a small, brown package in Yuuri’s hands that was neatly tied with twine. “Once you get there, open this. It’s got the rest of the plan to get you to Shanghai.” At Yuuri’s quizzical look he added, “Victor knows people. A lot of people. Show them his instructions and they’ll help you. He remembered to give you plenty of gold, right?” Yuuri nodded slowly. “Good. A little bribe might be needed if some of his… _friends_ are skeptical about the authenticity of his letter.”  
  
Yuuri was dizzy. Not only had Victor allowed him off the ship, but he had set up quite an elaborate scheme to get him in the right direction towards home. And better still, to have him delivered right to an officer? It would be all too easy to obtain help from there. Maybe he could even tell the man about Nikiforov’s most recent whereabouts. His affinity for Irish coastlines. His apparent accomplice in a certain harbor town. His plan to collect the bounty on that man from Sicily, and all the others in his cell. Nikiforov was a fool for letting him go. He knew too much about his plans.  
  
“Alright, I’ve got to go back to the bar before I’m missed. It should be here in half an hour. Good luck!” Phichit gave him a quick, heartening hug before he hurried back to the tavern.  
  
Alone in the storeroom, Yuuri sat on a barrel and thought all this over.  
  
Based off everything he knew about pirates, it was unlikely that he and his uncle could have made it out alive after two encounters with them. Solitary confinement wasn’t unheard of, but sharing a bed with the captain? Unthinkable. Three meals a day? An afternoon stroll around the ship for some sun? A rescue from the crew? _Pleasant conversation? Soulmates? Release?_  
  
For the first time his wrist _burned_. Yuuri had the strangest sensation it was mad at him.  
  
“But he’s a criminal!” he said to no one in particular. “I have to get home to my family.” And then it struck him. Just who was he so desperate to get home to? A woman he barely knew, and an uncle who only wanted a business partner. A man whose business deals were probably as shady as Victor’s, though far less obvious.  
  
He could be free of his uncle, he realized. He could stay in Thailand. Or China. Or a new island of Japan. He could go anywhere. His uncle would assume he was killed by Victor’s men. No one would look for him. He wouldn’t have to marry Yuuko. He could find work as a stable hand and resume training horses. He could disappear from high society and just become another face in the street, live his life privately and by his terms. “I don’t have to go home,” he said quietly. And more importantly, “I don’t _want_ to go home.”  
  
He heard the sounds of hooves on cobblestone, and knew that the carriage had arrived. He could go to Shanghai and start over. No uncle, no pirates. Just peace and quiet.  
  
Yuuri stuffed the rum into the bag and slung it over his shoulder. It was now or never.

* * *

Victor had watched Yuuri run down the plank and disappear into the crowd with a stony expression. He steadfastly refused to acknowledge the ache on his shoulder or the roiling, nauseating feeling slowly settling in his gut. There was no reason for him to be dreading that this had been a terrible mistake. What did he need Yuuri for?

The captain left the rail and went in search of his first mate, checking all the least likely places to find him first, attempting to stall the inevitable conversation coming his way. He eventually found Chris at the wheel, discussing with their navigator. Victor stood idly by, waiting to get his attention and thinking over how he was going to explain this.

It just hadn’t seemed right to keep him any longer. Yuuri clearly wasn’t happy with Victor if his outburst was anything to go by. And why would he be? Victor took everything from him without a second thought, laughed and joked about it with Chris while Yuuri was locked away in a cabin for weeks. Stole him away from a perfectly lovely fiance that came with more money and prestige than even gold hungry pirates could offer. Some soulmate he was.

His mark suddenly _burned_ , and Victor hissed as he twitched his shoulder. “What do you want from me?” he whispered angrily, as if his mark could hear him. “I let him go. Aren’t you happy? Isn’t that what I was supposed to do?” It pulsed a few times.

“Victor?” came Chris’ voice, his first mate coming to his side. “Are you alright? You look ill.”

“I’m fine,” he forced out, pushing the irritation away, determined to wait out his mark until it came to its senses and stopped bothering him.

Chris looked at him curiously. “Is it Yuuri?” he asked. “Is something the matter?” He knew they had been spending more time together lately, though that might not always be a good thing, given Victor’s attitude sometimes.

“Yuuri’s…” He couldn’t get the word out. Saying it out loud made it real and he was surprised at how much he was regretting letting him go. He had gotten used to the man’s presence, enjoyed it even, which had never happened with a ransom catch before. Conversation came easily once Yuuri had set his mind to the two of them getting to know each other.

Victor had been certain he would never find a soulmate. If it wasn’t Chris, who could it be? He spent his life aboard a ship that never stayed put and they actively avoided everyone on land. It would be impossible odds to find a soulmate in the few hours they spent ashore every month.

And yet he had found him. Fate even gave him a second chance when Victor opted to toss the man into the sea the first time they met. A second chance to redeem himself and try again, and he only managed to make things worse. Yuuri was better off without him, he decided.

“Yuuri’s gone,” Victor said monotonously, ignoring the mark on his shoulder as it ached.

* * *

Yuuri couldn’t believe he was doing this. Even if he wasn’t his uncle’s favorite person, he must be worried about him to some degree. And his friends… Could he leave them in the dark as easily?  
  
Was he really willing to risk everything on a gut feeling?

* * *

  
“What do you mean he’s just _gone_?” cried Chris in disbelief. “How is he gone, he was locked in your room!”  
“I must have forgotten to lock it again,” Victor said defensively. “I’ve done it before.”  
  
“I don’t believe this. Where would he have gone to?”  
  
“Anywhere but here,” suggested Victor with a sigh. Obviously.  
  
Chris threw his hands in the air. “Don’t you care at least a little bit?” he asked. “He’s your soulmate. What if something happens to him?”  
  
“You mean something worse than being kidnapped by pirates?” asked Victor sarcastically.  
  
“Yes! He could starve, he could be killed, he could be kidnapped by someone who actually does it right! Of all the pirates in the world, he was god damn lucky to have been taken by _you_! Now he’s in a foreign country, broke, alone – don’t you feel any kind of responsibility for this?”  
  
Victor clenched his teeth, holding back a barrage of retorts. First he was a villain for taking him, now he was a villain for letting him go. “You’re acting like I forced him off the ship,” Victor pointed out. “He _ran away_. Clearly he’d rather take his chances out there. Whatever happens to him is on him.”  
  
He had to keep telling himself that. He would not kill himself with guilt and what-if’s. He arranged a safe journey for him to get home. That was assuming he listened to Victor’s advice about the Admiral’s Arms and didn’t just run off to god knows where. Well that was his problem, too. Victor tried. If Yuuri went his own way so be it.  
  
“He’s not going to last more than – what the hell, there he is.”  
  
Victor whipped around. “ _What_?” Sure enough, down on the dock was a hesitant looking Yuuri with a burlap sack over his shoulder. “What is he doing here?” He tore across the deck and down the gang plank, Chris hot on his heels. “What the _hell_ are you doing here?” he asked.  
  
“I did what you asked,” he said timidly, still hoping he hadn’t made a horrible mistake. He let the sack drop from his shoulder and held it out for Victor. “More than enough to replace what you gave me.” He fished the little satchel of gold from his pocket and handed that over too. He hadn’t needed it after all, Phichit had a month’s worth in there.  
  
Victor accepted both with a stunned expression. Chris, behind him, was even more confused. “You’re supposed to be on your way to Bang Kruai.”  
  
“I know,” Yuuri said. “But…my mark was unbearable. Did yours start to burn too?” Victor nodded. “I don’t think I’m supposed to leave yet.”  
  
Victor couldn’t comprehend this. “What are you talking about? I gave you the chance to go home.”  
  
“But that’s just it,” Yuuri insisted, “I don’t want to go home.”  
  
“… _What_?”  
  
“I don’t want to live with my uncle again. I don’t want to marry Yuuko.”  
  
“So you think your only other option is to be a prisoner on my ship?” he asked incredulously.  
  
“Is being a prisoner the only way onto your ship?” he countered. Victor opened his mouth, found he couldn’t come up with a response, and closed it. Yuuri pushed up his sleeve and held his wrist out, mark up. “Is there room in your crew for your soulmate?” His mark rippled, as if it were channeling his anxiousness.  
  
Victor stared at the mark, then glanced up to meet his eyes. They looked sincere, and hopeful, and scared. He imagined his looked pretty similar. “…If that’s what you want.”  
  
Yuuri shifted restlessly, part of him still screaming at him to bolt while he had the chance. “Is that what _you_ want, too?”  
  
Victor thought of how awful he’d felt when he believed Yuuri was gone for good. It hadn’t just been guilt, but a bone deep _ache_ mourning the loss of a man who, by all other accounts, should have been completely inconsequential. “Yes,” he agreed, voice almost failing him. “Yes, I want you to stay.”  
  
Yuuri felt relief wash over him. They took a moment to enjoy this, the fact they had their soulmate here, no coercion from either party, before Victor stepped back and bent to get the sack of supplies. “I told you we were leaving in two hours, you’re lucky pirates aren’t punctual.” Yuuri smiled sheepishly and started up the plank for the ship.  
  
“ _Victor._ ” He turned to see his first mate staring at him, still clearly confused by what he had just witnessed. “What just happened?”  
  
“Oh, _now_ I remember,” said Victor cheerily, hoisting the bag over his shoulder. “I sent him for supplies. Silly me. Here I thought he ran away.” He turned and followed Yuuri up the gangplank, leaving Chris flabbergasted on the dock.

* * *

Victor didn’t have a clue how he was going to explain this to the crew. Maybe they could pull off Yuuri being an indentured servant, forced to work for him until…well he’d think of something. Right now he was too distracted by having the man at his side.  
  
Victor had lead Yuuri to his room, and they were currently sitting on the edge of the bed, Yuuri pressed against the pirate’s side, one of Victor’s arms around him. “You realize what this means, don’t you?” he asked.  
  
Yuuri shifted a bit to look up to him. It meant an awful lot of things, really. Could he be more specific? “Hm?”  
  
“If you’re going to be part of the crew, you’ll have to reevaluate how you view pirates.” He could see the confusion on Yuuri’s face. “You cannot hate us for what we do.”  
  
“I never hated you,” Yuuri protested.  
  
Victor looked doubtful. “You made it very clear this afternoon how you felt about me. I know you were angry, but there was some truth in there.”  
  
“I was mad at the situation,” Yuuri said. “You left my uncle and I to die. You took our life’s savings.”  
  
“And that was not the first nor the last time I will do something like that,” Victor pointed out.  
  
“…Oh.” Now he saw what he was saying.  
  
“We do try to spare lives when possible, but it’s not always avoidable. And as for the gold, stealing is rather the whole point of piracy.”  
  
Yuuri sighed. Accepting Victor and doing his best to ignore what was happening around him was one thing, but actively participating? He didn’t know if he could do that. He bit his lip and pressed closer to Victor, already worrying he’d be the reason this fell apart. He couldn’t just ask Victor to stop being a pirate because it made him uncomfortable.  
  
Victor set his chin on the top of Yuuri’s head, letting out a short breath. He wanted to give this a real effort, after all it wasn’t every day you found your soulmate, but he couldn’t abandon his crew and lifestyle on a whim. “Well. For now let’s focus on what to do about your uncle.”  
  
“What do you mean?” asked Yuuri. “I told you I don’t want to go back to him.”  
  
“I know, but we have an arrangement with them to meet next week.”  
  
“Are you worried that it would be rude not to show up?” asked Yuuri with a light laugh. “I didn’t think manners were a priority for you.”  
  
“I always keep my engagements,” Victor said with a smirk. “But I also thought, if you would like to say some sort of goodbye to him or anyone else, perhaps we could come up with something.”  
  
Yuuri thought it over. At first he couldn’t think of anyone, then gasped as he remembered, “Guang Hong and Takeshi!”  
  
“Who?” asked Victor.  
  
“My friends, more like family than my actual family… I wouldn’t want them to worry about me.” He could handle his uncle being in the dark, but those two deserved the truth.  
  
Victor nodded. “Why don’t we go through with the trade? After you’ve been returned you can contact your friends, arrange whatever you may need to, and rendezvous with us in a few days.”  
  
Yuuri hated to ask this, but, “This isn’t some elaborate set up where you take the money and run, is it?”  
  
“Kindly remember I attempted to let you go without any ransom paid,” Victor said with a huff, though Yuuri still heard the smile in his voice. “You will have to trust me to return for you.”  
  
“I do trust you,” Yuuri said, and he meant it. He shifted to look up at Victor, and the pirate leaned down to press their foreheads together. “You know, the last two weeks I’ve been thinking… You’re pretty nice for a pirate.”  
  
“Oh, I’ve overlooked all your insults up to now, but that I cannot forgive.” Victor grabbed at his heart dramatically. “I don’t know if I’ll ever recover.”  
  
Yuuri laughed, “But you really are! It’s a good thing!”  
  
Victor put a finger to his lips to silence him. “Never repeat that again, I can’t risk anyone overhearing. Whoever heard of surrendering to a pirate because of how _nice_ he was?”  
  
“Maybe that could be your thing,” suggested Yuuri, and Victor tapped his lips again to shush him.  
  
With great reluctance Victor pulled away and stood up. “We’re still planning on leaving tonight. I should go make sure the men are setting a course for the proper destination. I won’t be more than a half hour.” At the door he hesitated, and looked back to Yuuri. “I won’t lock the door unless you want me to.” Considering the Cao incident from the night before he wouldn’t fault Yuuri for being cautious.  
  
“It’s alright, you can leave it open,” said Yuuri. He had to get used to life on this ship and with these men eventually.  
  
Victor nodded and pulled the door shut before going in search of his navigator. After checking that everything was ship shape he went to Chris’s room, knocking lightly before going in.  
  
“Hi,” he said quietly.  
  
“Hey,” said Chris. They stared at each other. “Are you planning on filling me in on any of this?”  
  
“Yes. But not tonight.”  
  
“Need to get your story straight?” asked Chris.  
  
Victor leveled an unimpressed look at him. “ _No_. I just need to comprehend it myself before I can explain it.” Another stare down. In a nutshell, “I let him go. He came back. We’re still doing the trade.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Why…did he come back, or why are we still doing the trade?”  
  
“Everything!” said Chris, frustrated. “Why did you let him go without telling me? Why did you lie to me about it? Why did he come back? Why is he part of the crew now? Why would he even want to do that? Why are we still doing the trade? Why are you suddenly not including me in anything?”  
  
Victor sighed. “Four hours, Chris. A lifetime of complete devotion cannot be overruled by four hours of emotionally fueled decisions. That’s not fair.”  
  
“What’s not fair is you didn’t even give me a chance to support you.” Victor looked doubtful. “I was the one who suggested letting him go this morning. _You_ said it would be cruel to leave him penniless and alone. Remember?”  
  
“Yes I remember. That’s why I did neither of those things. He had money and aid.”  
  
“Oh really? Who was supposed to help him? We know one man in this town.” Victor’s guilty silence was enough. “You involved Phichit in this?” he gasped.  
  
“Don’t act like Phichit was in any sort of danger,” said Victor. “He merely arranged transportation.”  
  
“How could you not tell me?”  
  
“Because I knew you would overreact. He was perfectly safe. His cousin was going to escort Yuuri to Bang Kurai, and that would have been the end of it.”  
  
“His cousin? You’ve got his extended family roped into this too?”  
  
“What is ‘this?’” asked Victor, frustrated. “What could he have possibly done to either of them? Yuuri’s not a fugitive or criminal. Hell, Phichit’s in more danger from one of us!”  
  
“We don’t know anything about him,” Chris pointed out.  
  
“I know enough to know he posed zero threat.”  
  
“How?” demanded Chris. “You expect me to believe you were that confident in him, when you didn’t even know his name for two weeks? You didn’t know he was your soulmate, but you know him well enough to send off to Phichit.”  
  
“Everything was under control. This is why I didn’t tell you, when it comes to Phichit you get all bent out of shape. Now I’m not going to continue this conversation if it stays like this. Either we stop arguing, or I’ll talk to you in the morning.”  
  
Chris took a few deep breaths. “What did you come in here for, anyway?”  
  
“I just came to say goodnight. So goodnight!” He made to pull the door shut, but stopped before it latched and nudged it open again. “…I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you about it. I just felt like it was something I needed to take care of on my own.”  
  
“But why, you idiot?” asked Chris, with a lot less force than earlier.  
  
“I don’t know. This whole soulmate business has had me completely out of whack.”  
  
“I’ll say. You’ve been very unpredictable.”  
  
“We’ll sort it out in the morning, okay?”  
  
Chris sighed. “Okay. Have a good night.”  
  
“You too.” He pulled the door shut and went to his own room, entering quietly in case Yuuri was asleep. He appeared to be, so Victor gingerly kicked off his boots and removed his belt and shirt, then carefully got into the bed. After a moment of consideration, he gently pulled Yuuri close to his chest and wrapped his arms around him. Yuuri made a slight “hmm” in acknowledgment and shifted closer, causing Victor’s mark to warm happily. He would let go in a minute or two, he thought. He just needed to soothe his mark with tangible evidence that his soulmate was near. 

* * *

Chris and Victor had a long talk the following morning, at the end of which found them on much better terms. It was also decided that Victor would casually announce that he’d decided to keep Yuuri, ransom be damned. Why? Because stealing the man’s only family was far better revenge than stealing gold, and this was the man who maimed Chris they were talking about.  
  
“That’s not to say we won’t try to get the ransom money,” he added, and the crew cheered. They did love a good double crossing.  
  
“You aren’t _really_ going to accept the money knowing I intend to come back, are you?”  
  
Victor huffed out an amused smile. “You aren’t really asking me that, are you?” Of course he would keep the money _and_ Yuuri.  
  
“Sir-”  
  
“Oh stop calling me that,” he groaned. “You can call me Victor. Captain Nikiforov if you must, just stop with the sir.”  
  
“Sorry. Victor,” he said, trying it out for the first time. “It’s just, you _know_ what a tight spot he’s in already.” Because of you.  
  
“If he’s treated you as terribly as you made it sound, then I have no guilty conscience in swindling him out of seventy-five thousand.”  
  
“If you could just…” Yuuri bit his lip. “As a favor to me, if that even means anything to you, could you please not do it?”  
  
Victor wanted to laugh and say they were hardly close enough for that guilt trip to work, and he didn’t owe Yuuri any favors. Pirates were cheats. His uncle was a bastard who deserved it. No amount of puppy dog eyes, however wide and adorable and disarming they were would change that. The pouting happening before him was definitely _not_ enough to overrule _years_ of cutthroat behavior.  
  
“…Fine. But just this once, and _only_ because I can convince myself I’m satisfied with what I got out of him last time.”  
  
“Thank you,” Yuuri sighed. “I really appreciate it.”

* * *

It took a little coaxing from both Chris and Victor, but Yuuri had lunch with the crew that afternoon. He was still a little uncomfortable with them thinking he was their captain’s plaything, but at least they didn’t comment about it, and it helped that Cao had been left behind in Bangkok.  
  
“How long you staying with us?” asked one man.  
  
“Um, indefinitely, I expect,” Yuuri answered shyly. He was suddenly ambushed with questions, some he answered and others he ignored, until Victor broke it up and they fell into their usual conversation.  
  
Yuuri picked at the meat on his plate before Chris gently nudged him. “You’ll get used to them,” he assured him.  
  
“I know. I just never expected to be in this position, you know?”  
  
Chris smiled sympathetically. “Not many plan on this life.”  
  
Yuuri was intrigued. “How did you end up here?” He glanced over at Victor. The two seemed to know each other so well, they must have quite the history.  
  
“Similar to your situation. Or at least the one we’ve told the crew.”  
  
“You mean Victor kidnapped you too?” Yuuri gasped. He wouldn’t have guessed that based on their tight knit friendship.  
  
“Oh, no, sorry. The payment involved,” he explained. “Only, it was the other way around. Instead of a rich uncle like you, my father was poor. He sold me to Captain Yakov Feltsman when I was eight years old.”  
  
Yuuri’s heart sank. “He _sold_ you?”  
  
“Desperate times, and all that,” he sighed.  
  
“How did you end up with Victor then?”  
  
“Victor was also a child on board. He’d been raised from birth on the sea.”  
  
“Yeah, he told me,” Yuuri said quietly. “His mother and Sakhalin…”  
  
“Really?” asked Chris. “That’s surprising.” Victor didn’t share that part of the story often. He usually boasted of his experience and skill and kept the more dramatic aspects to himself. “Anyway, we grew up serving with Yakov. When he was killed a few years ago…Victor assumed control of the ship.”  
  
Yuuri tilted his head. “What about the first mate? Wouldn’t he expect to become captain?”  
  
Chris shrugged. “Under any other circumstances, he would have. But he was the one who killed Yakov.”  
  
“Oh. So, the first mate…was he…arrested?” asked Yuuri, hoping that was the case but sincerely doubting it.  
“Yakov was a harsh man,” Chris began. “He was demanding, and hard headed, and we both admired and feared him, to be honest. He was the closest thing Victor and I had to a father figure. When he was betrayed…Victor did what he had to do to make it right.”  
  
Yuuri’s stomach flipped. He knew Victor had it in him to kill, but he preferred to pretend otherwise. “I see.”  
  
Chris nudged him again. “Hey. While Victor’s no saint, he’s certainly no blood thirsty barbarian either. When he can avoid spilling blood he will. But if it’s personal…god help you if he finds you.”  
  
Yuuri nodded and shoveled another bite into his mouth. It was all he could do not to gag. He worried he may get used to all the blood and gore before he was used to what pirate’s called food.

* * *

Yuuri was embarrassed to admit it, but now that he was no longer fearing for his life, he found he actually was able to feel comfortable enough to the point he was _bored_. How things have changed…  
  
It was hard to break the habit of staying in his room all day. He wondered if Victor might assign him tasks now that he was supposed to be one of them, but the captain seemed content to let him do as he pleased. The first few days he poked around the ship, avoiding the crew at times, now and then seeking someone out for a conversation.  
  
One man he bumped into the most was Minami. He appeared to be a few years younger than Yuuri, with blonde hair accented by a bright red streak.  
  
“Hi!” he chirped as he fell seemingly from the sky, making Yuuri jump.  
  
“Hello.” Yuuri looked up, trying to figure out where he had come from. Perhaps he had been up adjusting the sails.  
  
“What are you doing?” asked Minami, following Yuuri’s gaze up at the masts.  
  
“Oh…nothing.” When Minami still looked expectantly at him, he asked, “What are you doing?”  
  
Minami grinned. “Trying to avoid Plisetsky,” he said, nodding in the direction of a young yet intimidatingly grumpy looking blonde. “He’s a Russian assassin we picked up last year. The captain has him in charge of making sure we stay on top of our duties.” Yuuri wasn’t sure if he was kidding about the Russian assassin bit, but figured he’d play it safe and take it as truth. “I’m supposed to be doing an inventory of weapons… But it’s such a nice day!”  
  
“I’m pretty good with numbers. Would you like some help?” Yuuri offered. He used to help with inventory at the onsen as a child.  
  
“Have you been up in the crow’s nest yet?” Minami asked, completely ignoring any more talk of work. Yuuri shook his head. “You should check it out, you can’t beat the view. Especially on such a clear day. Follow me!” Yuuri hesitated but Minami grabbed his arm and tugged him along to the center mast, then started on his way up. “Come on!”  
  
Yuuri started up after him. _Well_ , he thought, _I wanted something to do…_  
  
Three quarters of the way up, they heard a familiar voice shout, “Minami! What are you doing up there with Yuuri?”  
  
They looked down to see Victor at the base of the mast. “Inventory!” shouted the boy.  
  
“ _Up there_?” Victor called back skeptically.  
  
“Can’t be too careful!” he replied, resuming his climb. Yuuri was torn on whether he was supposed to go up or down, but Victor gave him his trademark smirk and waived him to continue.  
  
At the top, Yuuri was rendered speechless. The view was beautiful, with ocean as far as the eye could see in all directions. He hadn’t fully comprehended how isolated they were. “Wow.”  
  
“Right?” grinned Minami. “I love coming up here.” They stayed for quite a while, each making themselves comfy on the rope and such around, and Yuuri felt like he may have found his first friend aboard this ship. Once they climbed down Yuuri made good on his promise to help inventory the weapons. When dinner came around Victor was surprised yet pleased to see Yuuri didn’t automatically seat himself beside Victor like he normally did, but chose to sit by Minami and another young man at the other end of the table.  
  


* * *

  
“I see you’ve adopted Minami,” Victor said, voice warm with amusement as they dressed down for bed. He supposed now that Yuuri wasn’t to be kept under lock and key he could join the crew in their quarters, but…he got the sense both of them preferred this arrangement.  
  
“I would say it’s more like he claimed me.” Not that Yuuri minded. “How old is he?”  
  
Victor sighed as he thought it over. “I think he’s around seventeen now?”  
  
Considering the histories of Chris and Victor, Yuuri knew better than to say out loud that it seemed awfully young to be in this life. “What’s his story?”  
  
“Needed work, simple as that.” He pulled back the blanket and slid in all the way to the wall, leaving room for Yuuri to join him.  
  
As Yuuri settled in he said, “I hope you won’t be offended if I say this, but he couldn’t find anything else?”  
  
Victor let out a playful _harumph_. “I was the only one willing to hire him at eleven-”  
  
“ _Eleven_?”  
  
“-others worried he was too young and all that nonsense.”  
  
“You _hired_ a _child_?” Yuuri asked.  
  
“Would you prefer I let the orphan starve?” asked Victor. “Or worse, sent him to an orphanage?”  
  
“He’d be cared for,” Yuuri pointed out.  
  
“Have you _seen_ some of these orphanages?” Victor asked, raising an eyebrow. “Trust me, he was better off with me.”  
  
Yuuri sighed, settling down and scooting close to Victor, smiling contentedly when his mark pulsed with a gentle, happy heat at the close proximity of his soulmate. “Once again your generosity knows no bounds.”  
  
“Now you’re catching on,” Victor grinned, and he placed a quick kiss on Yuuri’s shoulder before rolling onto his side. “No one chooses this life. It sneaks up on you slowly.”  
  
“Or ambushes you on your way to Naha.”  
  
Victor laughed and gave him a gentle kick. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victor finally comes around and starts to warm up! He couldn't ignore the pull of a soulmate forever!


	5. The Trade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuuri prepare for the trade with Itoku. Things don't quite go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay! A lot is going on with work right now! I hopefully will be on time next Friday!

The following afternoon Victor found Yuuri rifling through the papers on the table in their room. “Looking for something?” he asked.  
  
“I'm sorry, I don't mean to be nosy, I wasn't looking for anything but blank paper...”  
  
“Hm.” Victor nudged him aside and continued the search. “How much do you need?”  
  
Ah, that was rather hard to answer. “Several pages?”  
  
Victor looked over his shoulder at him. “Okay, I shall rephrase. What do you need it for?”  
  
Yuuri blushed faintly. “I was hoping to write for a bit.”  
  
“Well obviously,” Victor laughed. “But, what exactly? I have a few scrap pieces around here, will that do?” Thoughts about his journey, notes for what to do when he's home...?  
  
“It's okay, I don't really _need_ it,” Yuuri said, starting to backtrack when it seemed it was too much trouble. “I was just hoping to entertain myself with a story. I'll survive.”  
  
“A story?” Victor asked. Yuuri nodded. “I do believe you're the first author we've had on this ship.” He looked around once more, thinking. “I don't know that we keep much parchment on hand...”  
  
“It's okay,” said Yuuri once again. “I understand.”  
  
Suddenly Victor perked up. “Well...” He went over to one of the walls covered in shelves, scanned a few dozen books, then plucked one off the shelf and opened it, flipping through it. “Half full, but...it'll do.” He crossed over to where Yuuri was standing and held it out for him. “You can have this,” he offered.  
  
Yuuri took it and thumbed through the pages, noting the messy handwriting covering the first half of the journal. “Is this yours?” he asked.  
  
“It belonged to the previous captain.”  
  
Yuuri's eyes darted up to meet his with concern, remembering what Chris had told him of Yakov. “I can't-”  
  
“ _Please_. It's just going to collect dust on the shelf otherwise. I have no use for it.”  
  
Yuuri slowly nodded, clutching the journal close. “Thank you.”  
  
“Don't mention it,” Victor smiled, and stepped a few paces closer to give his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. Yuuri liked when he did little things like that, though he wasn't quite bold enough yet to return it. “Now I've got to go see Chris about our plan. Come find me for dinner, alright?” He headed for the door of their room, hesitating when he reached the frame before turning around to add, “If I make an appearance in this story of yours, I expect the phrases 'devilishly handsome' and 'irresistibly charming' to as well.”  
  
“I'll consider it,” laughed Yuuri.  
  
With the afternoon to himself, Yuuri climbed up to the crow's nest with the journal tucked under his arm. At the top he arranged a comfortable nest, then settled down to begin, pen in hand. Before he could start, however, curiosity got the better of him, and he flipped to the beginning. What was this man like, he wondered.  
  
He intended just to read a few pages, but found the hours passing quickly as he turned page after page. The journal entries covered a variety of topics, from bounty they claimed to the countries they saw to the day to day antics of two little runts named Chris and Victor. Through the complaints came an undertone of affection and pride, and Yuuri eagerly took it all in. He knew Victor treated him differently than anyone else, Chris had commented on that numerous times now, so it was interesting to get a true view of the man when his soulmate wasn't around.  
  
Yakov detailed Victor's first official raid at sixteen. While he'd always been aboard for the countless attacks before, this was the first time Victor was permitted to cross to the opposing ship. He had been fearless, the man said, whooping out a battle cry as he swung over the divide and landed on the enemy's deck, already more graceful with a sword than many of their seasoned sailors.  
  
It continued on with reminiscing over Chris's startling ability to talk his way into or out of any situation, saving their skins on more than one occasion when the navy questioned the legitimacy of their flag and boarded. Victor's first kill at seventeen. When Chris forced a man off the plank. Victor's delight at being permitted to finally go ashore and see Yakov's legendary treasure trove.  
  
Yuuri's stomach dropped when the captain mentioned suspicious behavior on his first mate's part, and wasn't surprised there were few entries after that. When he finally pulled his nose out of the book, it was nightfall. He had no idea if he'd missed dinner or not.  
  
He hurried down and went to the mess, finding it empty. Yuuri then tried their room, also empty. With a little hesitation he knocked on Chris's door, sighing in relief when Victor called, “Come in!” He nudged the door open and let himself in.  
  
“There you are,” Victor grinned. “I thought you might have really run away this time.”  
  
“I'm sorry, I got caught up in the journal.”  
  
Chris raised an eyebrow and glanced at Victor. “I don't suppose you read that before you gave it to him?” he asked. “Who knows what Yakov wrote in there about you.”  
  
“Pah,” scoffed Victor. “I don't mind. I'm an open book, as they say.” He held an arm out for Yuuri to join him, which he quickly did, settling beside Victor on the bench along the wall. “Anything interesting? I hope he didn't drone on about weather conditions the whole time.”  
  
“It was very interesting,” Yuuri said. “Have you really not read it?”  
  
“Only a little and long ago,” said Victor. It had been too soon after his death. “I'll try again one day.”  
  
“It was very clear he was fond of you both,” Yuuri ventured to say, hoping it wasn't too sensitive a topic. He was relieved when Victor just smiled and gave his waist a squeeze. “Though other things were not so clear. Could you tell me what happened in Lisbon?” Chris burst into laughter and Victor actually paled. The smile tugging at Yuuri's lips made it apparent Yakov _had_ explained in detail.  
  
“I've never been to Lisbon,” Victor said firmly.

* * *

The last leg of the journey was pleasant. Yuuri spent a majority of the time up in the crow's nest, either talking with Minami or writing in a journal. At night Victor would hold him close as they fell asleep. If he hadn't been kidnapped three weeks ago by the same man, he never would have guessed he was supposed to be a villainous terror of the sea. The Victor he'd come to know was sweet and kind, the memory of the mean and terrifying man from the attack becoming harder and harder to recall.  
  
Now the ransom day finally had arrived. Normally Victor would avoid the harbor in these situations and drop anchor in a more secluded place, row in and sneak into town. Considering he was planning on abandoning the prize, he saw no need for the normal precautions. It would make his defeat and retreat all the more realistic.  
  
Though he was having a hard time coming to terms with defeat and retreat now that it was time to put them in action. “I've _never_ given up a chance for a steal like this,” he all but whined.  
  
“You promised,” Yuuri reminded him, with more than a little force behind his tone. “You're not taking the money.”  
  
“What if I just took half and dropped the rest?” he tried. Chris couldn't believe he was negotiating with Yuuri to begin with.  
  
“You've already taken enough,” Yuuri said with an air of finality, and Victor let out a long suffering sigh.  
  
“This is ridiculous,” he muttered as he lead the way down to the gang plank. “I've never been so humiliated in all my life. Retreating to the likes of Hirome.” Chris and Yuuri happily ignored him.  
  
Earlier that day they had sent Minami out to the predetermined rendezvous point to finalize the plan. Victor would bring Yuuri to the edge of town where the money was meant to be left. If it was all to his liking, he would release Yuuri and the man would be free to run home. If the chest was not there, if a single coin was missing, or there was any hint of the authorities, the deal was off and Yuuri would be instantly killed.  
  
Now, with the cover of night, they crept down to the dock. Chris insisted on trailing behind, just to be safe.  
  
“Really, Chris,” Victor sighed. “He couldn't be safer. I'm the one who's supposed to be the threat here.”  
  
“Could you not hold the knife so close to my neck?” asked Yuuri.  
  
“Realism, my dear,” Victor explained with a smirk. Still, for the sake of subtly, he lowered it to hover at Yuuri's side. “Now move. I haven't got all night.” Yuuri wondered what could possibly be more pressing than this, and rolled his eyes.  
  
And then his eyes landed on, “Guang Hong?” He gasped quietly, spotting his young friend on the dock, fishing hook over the railing. His friend glanced at him, and Yuuri was surprised he gave no reaction at all. Even if Yuuri didn't have a knife at his side, which should have warranted a look of shock, Guang Hong should have at least been surprised to see him. On the other side of the dock, further down on the right, was “ _Takeshi_?” He was cleaning a freshly caught fish, barely batting an eye when he glanced at his friend. Yuuri froze, and Victor nudged him in irritation to pick up the pace.  
  
Something wasn't right. Why were they here, and why weren't they reacting? Yuuri's heart raced as he tried to make sense of it all. Eyes darting around, he saw one slip over to the right a friend of his fathers taking a not so convincing 'casual' late night stroll, posture clearly that of a man terribly tensed. He looked over at the slip on the left to see several men flat out staring at them.  
  
 _They were staking out the docks_ , he realized. _They were waiting for the right moment to-_  
  
“Victor, it's a trap!” Yuuri cried when Takeshi suddenly reached for his pocket. Yuuri shouldered Victor hard in the chest, causing both of them to stumble to the side as a gun shot rang out. Chris dove in the other direction.  
  
“Damn it!” Victor swore. He'd been so caught up on the fact he was going easy on them, he forgot to consider the same would not be for Itoku and his associates. How could he be so careless? He pulled Yuuri down behind some crates to avoid the gunfire. “Damn,” he panted again. “I'm an idiot.”  
  
Yuuri jumped as bullets grazed the wooden pallets around them. “What do we do?”  
  
“ _You_ are going to inexplicably escape from my grasp while out of sight behind these crates and go find your uncle before he gets you killed.”  
  
“What about you?”  
  
“I'll get back to the ship, get the hell out of here, and come back for you in three days.” A bullet burst through the crate between them, and they shuffled further down.  
  
“How do you expect to make it back on board without being shot!”  
  
“Don't insult me, I've been in worse situations than this,” he huffed. Just...needed to think for a moment.  
  
Inspiration struck, and Yuuri jumped to his feet. “Follow me!”  
  
“Are you insane?” hissed Victor.  
  
“They won't shoot me,” insisted Yuuri. “Which means they won't shoot _you_ if we do this right. _Come on_.” Yuuri grabbed Victor's wrist, pulling it up so that the hand with the knife was back at his throat. Victor stared at him wide eyed as Yuuri cried, “Don't shoot, it's me!”  
  
“I'm not using you as a shield,” growled Victor, despite the fact in any other situation he absolutely would use a hostage as a body guard.  
  
“Yes you are,” Yuuri announced, and tugged him out from behind the crate, taking care to keep as much of himself in front of Victor as he could. Now he was able to see Takeshi, Guang Hong, and a handful of other familiar faces struggling to aim for the pirate.  
  
Forced to follow suit, Victor tightened his grip on the knife and grasped one of Yuuri's arms, making a show of dragging the struggling young man back to the gangplank. When he spotted Itoku among the men, Victor screamed, “You double crossing son of a bitch! Your boy is _mine_ now!” It was an awkward backward shuffle up the gangplank but they made it in one piece. Victor dropped the knife from Yuuri's neck and called for Chris. His first mate was already on it, preparing for a hasty getaway.  
  
They all stumbled at the impact of a cannon ball.  
  
“Oh for fuck's sake!” growled Victor. They should know better than to attack his ship. “Now I'm angry!” He took hold of Yuuri's arm and lead him toward their room. Yuuri could clearly see the sweeter side of Victor he'd come to know rapidly disappearing, replaced with the prickly pirate he'd so feared when they first met. “Stay in the cabin.”  
  
“Victor – Please – They're only trying to-”  
  
“Kill me,” he finished for him.  
  
“Save me,” Yuuri corrected.  
  
“By killing me. And my crew. I'm sorry but I can't let that happen.”  
  
“What if I ran back down?” asked Yuuri, but the plank had long since fallen in the water as the ship moved for open water.  
  
Another cannon fired, but there was no impact this time. Victor saw a particularly impressive looking naval ship poised for attack alarmingly close to them. Had that been there when they arrived this afternoon? Had he truly paid zero attention to his surroundings?  
  
“Stay in here until it's over,” Victor ordered, shoving him inside roughly and slamming the door. To his great relief Yuuri didn't immediately storm out again. “Minami!” he called, and he heard the boy answer back with a shout. “I need cannons loaded _yesterday!_ ”  
  
“Aye, captain!”  
  
“The rest of you,” he shouted, not quite believing this, “I would prepare to be boarded.”  
  
Victor ran for the wheel, concerned about the hit they'd taken and asking Chris how fast they could expect her to go. “She's the fastest on the Pacific. Even limping she ought to outrun them if we get a good enough head start.”  
  
“Please tell me we got a good enough head start,” Victor glared. Chris looked unsure. “Damn it.” Under any other circumstances Victor felt like he could take on the world, but being caught so off guard had him floundering.  
  
Minami appeared from below deck. “Cannons ready, captain!”  
  
“Then get back down there and fire them!” he snapped, and Minami bolted back down the stairs. A moment later there were multiple deafening blasts. He saw two hit their target and he called for another round. “I've never been so humiliated in my life,” he said once again. Victor Nikiforov, retreating.  
  
There was another blast, and the ship rocked again as it was hit. Victor tried to convince himself his ship was fine, but as time passed the ship pursuing them came closer and closer. “Yakov would never have suffered the indignity of being boarded,” Victor grumbled.  
  
“Then pull yourself together!” Chris snapped before hurriedly pulling the wheel to the right.  
  
“What the hell are you doing?” Victor cried.  
  
“Turning around!”  
  
“Why!”  
  
“We've taken on ships twice their size!” he reminded him. “So what if they caught us by surprise? We're still the best crew on the sea, aren't we?”  
  
Victor stared at him a moment before grinning. “Damn right.” Victor leaned over the railing to address the crew gathering below. “Who's ready for a fight?” They cheered. As the ships raced towards each other, Victor couldn't help but think of Yuuri waiting anxiously in the cabin. Victor knew he was dreading the loss of life on either side. He knew Itoku and his men would show no mercy. Could he ask his crew to?  
  
As the ships drew close, Victor called out his final demands. “Disable only, no fatalities!” Many looked confused or annoyed at this, obviously wondering why they should spare the lives of the men clearly gunning for theirs. “That's an order!”  
  
When within range, Victor's men swung their way over to the naval ship. With their well honed skills they fought their way through the swarm of would-be rescuers.  
  
For the first time in ages Victor stayed behind, guarding the door to his room. Logically he knew these men meant Yuuri no harm, but instinct was demanding he protect his soulmate. His mark burned from the stress.  
  
Victor watched as one man from the opposing ship set a gangplank in place and darted over. Perfectly confident in fighting off a single invader, Victor advanced with sword drawn. It had been a while since he'd had a good old fashioned sword fight, so he was almost disappointed when a gun was drawn. He ducked into the alcove of the stairway in time to miss the bullet. Dropping the sword he drew his pistol, poking his head out to see if the man had moved.  
  
While Victor was thoroughly distracted, another man snuck over the plank and around the outer rim of the ship, softly calling _Yuuri_ as he peeked into doorways and rooms. He watched his partner lure the captain further away so that he might try this collection of rooms. “Yuuri?” he called.  
  
“Guang Hong!” Yuuri gasped, jumping up from the bed. “What are you doing here?!”  
  
“We're here to rescue you, of course. Come on!”  
  
“W-we?” Yuuri stuttered as he was manhandled out of the room.  
  
“Takeshi, he's got the captain handled.”  
  
Yuuri's heart sank. “What do you mean?” he asked, and as soon as he was out of the room he desperately looked around for Victor. He spotted the two up by the wheel, guns aimed at each other as they circled, neither sure if they should fire or duck for cover, caught in a standstill. “Oh no!”  
  
“He'll be fine!” Guang Hong assured him, but Yuuri tore off in the direction of the two. “Where are you going?!” Guang Hong sprinted after him.  
  
“Wait! Takeshi, stop!” he cried, voice drowned out by dozens of firearms on the ship beside him. He heard Guang Hong behind him fire off a shot toward Victor, intending to help Takeshi, and Yuuri shouted over his shoulder, “Don't shoot him!” Bewildered, Guang Hong thought it sounded like Yuuri was asking more for him to not shoot the pirate than Takeshi. That didn't make any sense.  
  
“If you leave now, I'll let you off in one piece,” Victor offered. “It's more than I usually allow, so I would advise you to take it.”  
  
“Not without Yuuri,” Takeshi glared.  
  
 _Oh lord_ , Victor groaned. “If you had followed the god damn plan you would have had him by now!”  
  
“You expect me to believe you were going to hand him over, just like that?”  
  
“Yes, you idiot!” Takeshi glowered at him and let off a round, Victor not quite dodging it enough, and he howled in pain as a bullet tore through his arm.  
  
“Victor!” Yuuri cried, reaching the deck and rushing past Takeshi to get to the pirate. “Oh my god, are you okay?” Yuuri ducked under one of Victor's arms just before the man's body gave out, going limp and leaving Yuuri struggling to keep him upright.  
  
“Yuuri what are you doing?” asked Guang Hong, panting from the run.  
  
“Me?” he gasped, crumbling under Victor's weight, slowly helping him down to the deck. “What are you guys doing? You shot him!”  
  
“Of course we did!” Takeshi said.  
  
“He kidnapped you!” added Guang Hong. “He was going to kill you!”  
  
“No he wasn't!” Yuuri moaned, turning back to look at Victor. “It was just an act, I was never in any danger. _Victor_ , are you alright?”  
  
The pirate was slowly coming back to his senses. “I'm fine, just a little shock. It'll....wear off.” He winced when he tried to move his arm. “Chris had it a lot worse and look at him now.”  
  
“Chris! Would he be able to help?”  
  
“I suppose,” Victor grunted. “You might want to get Plisetsky too.” Yuuri helped him to sit upright, checked his arm to make sure he wasn't gushing blood too terribly, then got to his feet. “Stay here and watch him,” he said to his friends. “ _Don't_ hurt him.”  
  
“Where are you going?” asked Guang Hong as Yuuri bolted away. “Yuuri!”  
  
Yuuri raced down their ship and over to the navy vessel, frantically dodging the men around him. A few times some distant acquaintances his uncle must have recruited to help attempted to stop him, pull him aside to 'safety', or rejoiced that he was back, but he manged to weasel out of their grasp and continue his search. “Chris,” he panted when he finally found the man. “Victor's been shot.”  
  
“ _What_? Is it serious?”  
  
“I really don't know the degrees of seriousness when it comes to gun shots,” Yuuri said, frustrated. “It's his arm. He said to get Plisetsky.”  
  
“I'll find him,” Chris promised, and disappeared into the fray.  
  
Yuuri realized with a start that aboard this ship must be the navy's medic. He scanned the men quickly, looking for a uniform, then hurried over and interrupted one currently at odds with young Minami. “Hey, hey!” he shouted, getting between them and coming dangerously close to their swinging swords. Both were startled enough to hesitate, and Yuuri took advantage of the pause. “Minami, stand down.” His tone was so authoritative that the boy listened to him automatically, dropping his sword to his side and awaiting further instruction. “You,” he said to the man, “I need a doctor. You have one on board right?”  
  
“Uh, yes,” said the man, rather confused over what was happening.

“Where is he? Can you take me to him?”  
  
“Yuuri!” cried a familiar voice, and he turned to see his uncle along with Yuuko's father approaching. Honestly he was surprised his uncle went through such trouble for him. He must really want Yuuko's money. “There you are!”  
  
He scoffed and turned back to the sailor. “Where is the doctor?” he repeated.  
  
“Oh, my Yuuri! Thank goodness you're safe!” Itoku continued in that fake voice he used in public.  
  
The last thing Yuuri wanted was to be engulfed in a hug right now, yet it was happening. “Get off me,” he insisted, wriggling away. “I'm fine.” Then it dawned on him, this whole thing was his uncle's doing. Maybe he could stop it. “I'm fine,” he repeated, “You can call off this attack now.”  
  
“What do you mean?” asked Itoku. One didn't just call time out when engaging pirates.  
  
“Who's the commanding officer here? Find him and tell him to stand down.”  
  
They all looked at him like he was crazy. “We'll be overrun!”  
  
“Just trust me,” Yuuri groaned. “They're only attacking you because you attacked them first. If your men back off we can arrange a ceasefire.”  
  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Itoku asked, losing his calm facade. “You're not making any sense, it must be the stress.”  
  
“We can end this!” Yuuri glared. “Tell the men to drop their weapons and I guarantee the pirates will do the same!” They all clearly didn't believe him. “Haven't you noticed they're going easy on you!” He realized that Minami was still standing beside him. “Look, see?” he asked, motioning to him. “He's not hurting anyone!”  
  
“We'd better get you down where it's safe,” his uncle insisted, putting an arm around his shoulders to lead him away. “You need to rest.”  
  
“No, what I need is a doctor!” he cried. “Where is he?” he asked the sailor again. “Victor's been injured!”  
  
“ _Victor_?” his uncle echoed. “ _Victor Nikiforov_?” The infamous pirate, down for the count?  
  
“Yes. He's hurt. Will you help me or not?” he begged.  
  
“Of course I'll help you,” his uncle said.  
  
“Good. Just stop the fighting. It's all pointless, I'm perfectly fine.”  
  
“Where is their captain?” asked Itoku.  
  
If Yuuri had been thinking clearly, he would have been more suspicious of his uncle. However, being in quite the panic, he motioned toward the other ship. “He stayed behind to protect me.”

“Did he?” To the navy officer Itoku said, “Grab him.”

“What?” gasped Yuuri as his arms were suddenly pulled behind his back. “What are you doing?” Minami made a move to help but Yuuko's father had a gun to his head within a second.  
  
“I'm helping you,” Itoku explained pleasantly. “I'm getting revenge for everything you and I have been through.”  
  
Yuuri's heart raced. “I don't want revenge!” he shouted, but his uncle just laughed and started in the direction of the pirate ship. “Don't hurt him!” Yuuri cried after him. “Please don't hurt him!”

* * *

While Yuuri had been trying to persuade his uncle to surrender, Chris had been hunting down Yuri. With their most medically inclined crew member at his side, they fought their way back to their ship. Chris immediately recognized the man that cost him his leg as Itoku was scrambling over the gangplank. “Damn it,” he swore. He needed to get over there _now_ but he was right in the heart of the battle.  
  
At the base of the wheel, Victor was propped up against it and grudgingly accepting assistance from the very man who shot him. Takeshi was holding tight to Victor's upper arm to restrict blood flow while Guang Hong was struggling to rip a strip of cloth from his shirt for a tourniquet. All three were very uncomfortable with the situation.  
  
Takeshi was the first to speak since Yuuri ran away. “So...you really weren't going to kill Yuuri?”  
  
“Of course not,” Victor spat, like it was the most illogical thing in the world to assume that. “I wasn't even going to take the damn gold.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“Because he asked me not to.”  
  
Guang Hong and Takeshi exchanged glances. “He asked nicely...and you just agreed?” asked Guang Hong.  
  
“Yes!” groaned Victor. He knew the wound was superficial, but _damn_. He almost felt bad for all the men he'd shot in his career. “But after this I don't know that I'll listen to him next time he tells me to hold back on an attack. You're all getting shot in the arm.”  
  
Takeshi looked over at the other ship, chaos on every deck. “This is holding back?” he asked.  
  
“We didn't kill anybody, did we?” hissed Victor through clenched teeth. “Did you really think you fought _me_ to a standstill? Ha! You'd have been long dead if I hadn't prom-aaaaah!” Victor cried as Takeshi tightened his grip on his sensitive arm.  
  
“Sorry,” Takeshi muttered. Why were they helping this guy again?  
  
At the sound of footsteps the three turned to see Itoku coming up the stairs to them. He surveyed the scene with satisfaction. “Guang Hong, Takeshi, excellent!”  
  
Victor's blood boiled at the sight of him. “Get off my ship,” he growled.  
  
“Enjoy it while you can, it won't be yours much longer,” boasted Itoku. To the boys he said, “Yuuri's quite shaken from this whole ordeal. Could you two go see to him while I take care of...this?” he asked, motioning to Victor.  
  
They hesitated. “Yuuri went for help,” Guang Hong said. “He left us here to make sure he was okay.”  
  
“Yuuri's not thinking clearly right now,” explained Itoku. “He actually thought these brutes would throw down their weapons if ours did so first. Can you imagine? This month among barbarians has clearly confused him.”  
  
“You broke the deal,” Victor snarled. “None of this would have happened if you followed the damn plan.”  
  
Itoku laughed. “I broke the deal? There was never any deal to begin with. I don't negotiate with the likes of you.”  
  
Guang Hong and Takeshi looked just as confused as Victor. “The rendezvous point...” said Guang Hong. “The trade.”  
  
“There was never going to be any _trade_. Do you really think I'd just _hand_ this scoundrel seventy-five thousand dollars? You must be mad!”  
  
Takeshi's grip tightened once again, and Victor bit back a whimper. “You mean you would have risked Yuuri's life like that? This man threatened to kill him if even one coin was missing!” Imagine if Victor had found no chest at all!  
  
“Oh come on, what reason did any of us have to believe Yuuri was even still alive?” Itoku asked. “The odds were extremely unlikely he'd survive a month in those conditions.”  
  
Takeshi's eyes blazed. “If you didn't believe Yuuri was alive, what was all this for?” he demanded. “Why agree to the trade at all?”  
  
“Because it was the only way to lure him back!” Itoku exclaimed, as if it were obvious. “Somewhere on this ship is a chest full of _my_ gold. And I'm not leaving without it.”  
  
Guang Hong and Takeshi were overcome with disbelief while Victor was seething.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes! And Victor thought they were the ones scheming!


	6. What Do You Think You're Doing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri's desperate to get back to the pirate ship and ensure his uncle doesn't kill Victor. Can he get there in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize it's so short! Next week will be longer, I promise! Lot going on at work!

“You _have_ to let me go,” Yuuri begged, trying to tug free of the officer. “My uncle's going to kill him!”  
  
“Yuuri,” said Yuuko's father, “That man kidnapped you. Kept you prisoner for a month. Set a price on your life. Your uncle is only reacting how any other family would.”   
  
“But you don't understand,” he insisted. “Victor didn't hurt me. He even let me go! I went _back_ to him!”  
  
The man frowned. “But...he had you hostage this evening. Even had a knife to your throat.” He'd seen it himself.   
  
“We were only _pretending_. Victor wouldn't hurt me. But my uncle _will_ hurt him, so you have to let me go.”  
  
“If it's true he meant you no harm...why not simply disembark the ship peacefully? Why the charade?”  
  
Yuuri sighed. “My uncle had to believe he won. That he sent Victor running. I thought if he believed that I was glad to be home and away from Victor, that that would be the last place he'd think to suspect when I disappeared.”  
  
“Disappeared?”  
  
“Yes,” Yuuri said. “I wasn't going to stay home for long. We hate each other, it's time we admit it and move on instead of always trying to convince everyone everything's fine. I don't want anything to do with him, and I don't want to marry your daughter. Yuuko is lovely, but she's not the one for me.”   
  
“And this man is?” he asked skeptically.   
  
“He's my soulmate.” Yuuko's father was stunned. “I don't belong in an office with you and my uncle, I belong with him out on the sea.”  
  
“But...but you're not a thief, or-or”  
  
“I don't care if he's a thief,” Yuuri insisted. True he questioned this moral dilemma internally numerous times, but it all boiled down to one thing: “It doesn't matter what he is. All that matters is that I want to be with him. But my uncle is going to kill him...unless you let me go.”  
  


They stared at each other a moment longer before he nodded at the officer to let Yuuri go. “ _Thank you_.”

* * *

Guang Hong and Takeshi were kneeling at Victor's side, at a complete loss for what to do. They had come here under the impression the man slowly losing consciousness beside them was a terrible person, kidnapping their oldest friend and who knows what else, and that this was intended to be a rescue mission. They had expected to fight, even to the death if it had truly come to that, but it had never occurred to them that Itoku, the individual who arranged this whole thing, had never planned on actually helping Yuuri at all. That gold was the only true motivation.   
  
“Okay,” Takeshi said slowly. “Let's go find the chest.” He moved to get up but Itoku had a gun on him instantly. Takeshi set his own down on the deck carefully, raised his hands, and cautiously got to his feet. “It can't be too hard to find. It's probably either in his private quarters or down in storage.”   
  
Victor was suddenly both relieved and terribly regretful that he hadn't had time to unload his month's sizable haul in one of his many hideouts. The only consolation he had was that he had managed to spend a decent portion allowing his crew to run a muck when they'd briefly stopped in Phichit's town, and that Itoku would probably be furious to know several thousand had gone toward his efforts for Yuuri's escape, something the man clearly cared little for. “Yes,” he said through gritted teeth, wishing his damn arm would just fall off already and leave him be. “You'll find it downstairs.”   
  
“See?” said Takeshi, slowly approaching Itoku. “Let's just go find it. Then we can all go our separate ways.”  
  
“Go our separate ways?” he laughed, changing his target from Takeshi to Victor. “You think I'm letting him sail off into the sunset after everything he's taken from me?”  
  
“Yuuri wants him alive,” Guang Hong reminded him, shifting so that he sat partially in front of Victor, wondering where he went wrong in life to have ended up here, protecting a pirate.   
  
“I don't give a damn what Yuuri wants.” Itoku motioned with the gun for Guang Hong to get out of the way. “Move.”  
  
At the sound of a gun cocking Itoku glanced over his shoulder to see two men circling up on his right. “Chris,” Victor sighed. “About time.”  
  
“Sorry,” his first mate apologized, keeping eyes on Itoku as he and Yuri edged around him slowly, keeping their weapons on him. “Bit of a scuffle going on next door, you see.”   
  
Victor noticed that while Chris and Yuri arrived as requested, they were missing someone. “Where's Yuuri?”  
  
“We got separated.”  
  
“ _What_?” Victor growled, trying to sit up before Guang Hong not so gently pushed him back down. “How could you leave him alone? Go find him!”  
  
“Little busy trying to keep you alive, Captain,” Chris pointed out. “Anyway I don't think he's in danger from either crew.” Regardless of who ended up with him, the rescue party or his new shipmates, he was sure to be fine, right?  
  
Takeshi tried again to get Itoku to move on. “The gold, sir,” he said insistently. “If you want it you have to go now, before anymore of them come aboard. Guang Hong and I can manage these three.” At this point he was trusting Yuuri's judgment and counting on not being killed the instant he let his guard down. Victor resented the assumption these two could 'manage' him. Even in this condition, if he really wanted to, he could –   
  
Chris shot him a look to stay put, knowing full what Victor had been thinking.   
  
“We'll get it,” Itoku agreed. “I just need to tie up some loose ends.” Pride would not permit him to allow Nikiforov to escape again.   
  
“Stop!” Yuuri cried, flying up the stairs to the deck and skidding over to the tense group. “Ojisan, please, he's not a threat!”  
  
Oh, this wasn't self defense, Itoku mused. Purely revenge. “Get behind me, Yuuri,” he ordered.   
  
“I'm in no danger from them, believe me,” he insisted.   
  
“This has nothing to do with that,” Itoku said hurriedly. “Just get behind me, this could get messy and I need you in one piece.”   
  
Yuuri felt struck. “What?”  
  
“He's not here for you, he's here for the gold,” Victor explained. Yuuri's face fell. “Well you can fucking have it. Just _go_. We won't stop you, what are you waiting for?”  
  
A moment passed, Itoku's gun aimed at Victor while Chris had his own trained on him. Tense and panicked, Yuri fumbled for his, and Itoku quickly rounded on him.   
  
“No!” Yuuri gasped, jumping in front of his young friend. Itoku glared at him. “You're outnumbered, Ojisan. What's your plan? If you fire on one, the others will kill you. You can't expect them to let you go a third time!” Especially if he was stupid enough to injure someone again. He could tell Chris was fighting to hold back, admirably allowing the man who cost him his leg to stand here and provoke him. “Please.” He tentatively took a few steps toward him, reaching out for the gun. “Just give that to me, and I'll help you get the chest. Okay? Then you'll never see any of us again.”  
  
Oh no, that was a problem. Itoku grabbed Yuuri and pulled him to his chest, gun to his temple. “You're not going anywhere. We're getting my gold, and then you're getting married and getting us _that_ gold.” Their net worth would more than double with Yuuko's fortune.   
  
“I'll do no such thing!”  
  
“Guang Hong, Takeshi, get over here and help me,” Itoku ordered. The two reluctantly came to his side, Chris and Yuri moving to take over kneeling beside Victor, Yuri quickly getting started on looking him over. Itoku directed the two men to go down and find the chest while he waited here with Yuuri.   
  
With Victor out of commission and Yuri looking him over, that left only Chris. None of them were benefiting from Guang Hong and Takeshi's close proximity anymore, and Itoku seemed to realize that the first mate and medic made for a poor shield, seeing as he didn't care for them at all. He just needed Chris out of the way-  
  
As soon as Yuuri felt the gun leave his temple he lurched to the side, knocking his uncle off balance enough for his shot to miss Chris. The first mate returned fire, bullet grazing the man's leg. Itoku howled, swaying before putting his weight on Yuuri for stability, then swung his arm around to try again.   
  
“Wait!” Yuuri cried. “Wait wait wait! I'll go with you!” Itoku hesitated, Chris following suit.   
  
“What was that?”  
  
“I said I'll go with you,” Yuuri repeated. “I won't fight, I promise. As long as all three of them are alive when we get off this ship, I _will_ marry Yuuko. You have my word.” He tried to ignore the shocked and betrayed expressions of his new friends. Especially Victor, who looked as if he'd been shot through the heart this time. Yuuri looked away to his feet.   
  
“How about two out of three?” countered his uncle with a smirk. “I don't like the idea of Nikiforov out there with a grudge.”   
  
“Oh you'd better kill me,” growled Victor. “Because if we meet again I swear-”  
  
“Stop it, Victor,” Yuuri glared. _You're not helping_. “So how about it?” he asked desperately, trying to look over his shoulder at his uncle behind him. “We leave _right now_ , and you get _everything_ you want.”   
  
Itoku swallowed hard, thinking over his options. He loathed the idea of leaving any of them alive, the thought of them coming back for him was intimidating. Still, time was running out. He could take the gold and Yuuri and call it quits, or linger further and risk more of their men showing up. “Fine,” he sighed. “As soon as those two get up here with the chest we're outta here.”   
  
Yuuri sighed in relief, and glanced up again, foolishly expecting to see Victor relieved too. Instead he was taken aback by the anger in his eyes. “Victor-”  
  
“What do you think you're doing?” Victor hissed.   
  
“Saving your life,” Yuuri shot back.   
  
“By sacrificing yours? What kind of life will that be?”  
  
“I'd rather be miserable and married than responsible for your death.” Guang Hong and Takeshi surfaced from the depths of the ship, hauling the chest along with them. Itoku started urging Yuuri to follow after them.   
  
“Chris, do something!” Victor commanded, and when his first mate stood helplessly by his side, Victor tried once again to get to his feet only to have Yuri push him back down. “For fuck's sake, it's _one man_.” And not even a very well fought one at that. “The two of you can take him.”   
  
Yuuri felt the barrel against his temple again. “If any of you move...” threatened Itoku, limping away with Yuuri clutched to his chest.   
  
Hating to leave with Victor angry with him, Yuuri hastily added, “I'm sorry, Victor.” His mark burned, and he could tell by the way Victor was moving his shoulder his was aching too. “I didn't believe I had a soulmate. I've never been so glad to be proven wrong.”   
  
Victor watched, speechless, as Yuuri was taken from him so easily.


	7. Six Months Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuuri have been separated for six months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's short again D: and that it took so long.

Six Months Later

There was another headline in the papers this week of a Hirome Industries ship being overrun and sunk by the alarmingly active Nikiforov and his crew. While the pirate had always been known to strike ships carrying precious cargo, it was unusual for him to hit so many so often, and what were the odds it was all ships under the same company? That made four Hirome carriers this month alone. 

Yuuri thought, with a good deal of satisfaction, that his uncle really should have seen that coming. 

* * *

  
“Oh come on, Victor,” Chris sighed. “You've been cooped up in your room for days now. Come have a drink with me.” 

“I have rum here, thanks,” he said from his bed, lounging with Yakov's journal. He'd read it finally, all the way through to Yuuri's writing. His soulmate had altered between notes for a fantastical story of magic and mystery to musings of his time on the ship. Victor was sure he had memorized it by now. 

Chris rolled his eyes. “Well then we'll have a beer. Come on, Phichit would love to see you. And Mila and Sara will be devastated if they hear they missed a chance to harass you.”

“Feel free to bring Phichit back tonight for dinner,” Victor offered, “But I don't feel like going out tonight.” 

“Victor.” He used to love causing mayhem in tiny harbor towns. “I'm not taking no for an answer. Get up.” Chris went to the bed and grabbed his arm. “Don't make me get Yuri and Minami. Between the three of us we can drag you out of here.” 

“Fine,” Victor sighed. “I suppose I could use a drink or two.” He let Chris pull him to his feet and lead him out of the room and down to town. By the time they got to Phichit's bar Victor was thinking it might be a good idea to get drunk. It would stop him from thinking about things he shouldn't, like stealing the nephew of a certain wealthy businessman. 

Upon entering, Chris playfully called out, “Honey, I'm home!” Phichit was behind the bar, head perking up at the voice as he grinned. 

“Hey!” he happily shouted, rounding the bar and coming to jump onto Chris. “We've been waiting for you!” He leaned up for a kiss from Chris, leaving the two men puzzled. 

“We?” asked Victor. 

“Who's we?” Chris asked when Phichit pulled away. “Mila and Sara?”

Phichit giggled and pulled out of Chris's arms. “Hold on.” He took a few steps over to the bar top and leaned over to call into the back room. “Hey, bartender! Come on out, someone's here to see you!” Chris and Victor glanced at each other and shrugged. He felt a little twinge near his shoulder blade. Nothing new though, it ached whenever he thought of his soulmate. 

And then Victor proceeded to freeze when _Yuuri_ walked out, wiping his hands on the apron he was wearing. They locked eyes, and the young man instantly brightened. “Victor!” he cried, hurrying around the bar and running to hug him. “I knew I'd find you here!”

Victor was stunned. “How – why – what are you doing here?” 

“Waiting for you, of course,” Yuuri answered, leaning back to look up to him. “...Aren't you happy to see me?”

He realized he hadn't even returned the embrace yet. “Yes,” he said, getting himself together and moving to hold Yuuri's face. “Yes.” He pulled him in for a kiss, which he felt Yuuri eagerly return. He didn't know how he'd been able to resist this when he was with Yuuri before, he'd wasted so many opportunities all those nights they'd shared. Phichit beamed and returned to Chris's side. 

When they broke apart, Yuuri was gazing at him with bright, sparkling eyes, a satisfying contrast from the tearful look when they'd separated. “But...what are you doing here?” he asked again. “In Thailand. You're supposed to be in Japan. With a wife, and horses, and...”

Yuuri laughed. “I am happy to report I have no wife. And unfortunately no horses either.” Victor was still staring at him like he might vanish any moment. “I didn't get married!” he grinned. 

“But the deal with your uncle...Did he change his mind?”

“Oh, he definitely wanted me to marry Yuuko. But what he didn't count on was her father calling it off.” 

“Why would he do that?” asked Chris. 

Yuuri didn't answer right away. He hugged Victor again, enjoying the fact he was here, finally, and was within reach. It had been such a long wait. He almost started to doubt he'd ever hold him again. “Yuuri,” Phichit giggled, “These two are dying for you to explain. Put them out of their misery, yeah?”

“Sorry,” he blushed. “I'm just so happy you're back.” 

“ _I'm_ back?” asked Victor in disbelief. “ _You're_ the one who's been gone.” 

“Ah, I suppose you're right,” he said, flushing further. 

Chris piped up with, “Can we get back to how you're in Thailand right now?”

“Well,” Yuuri began, “That night, after Takeshi shot you, which he's _really sorry_ for by the way, I went to go find Chris and Yuri. Then I thought I might be able to find the medic on board the naval ship. That didn't really work out how I planned.” He was embarrassed now to admit he thought his uncle would have been willing to help any of them. “I tried to explain the situation to my uncle, and Yuuko's father was there as well, but instead of having their men back down and find the medic, my uncle had her father take hold of me while he went to, uh, 'find' you.” 

Chris had wondered what happened to Yuuri between asking him to find Yuri and then the incident at the wheel. “How did you get back to the ship? Did one of the crew help you get away from him?”

“No. I explained everything to him.” He looked to Victor. “How you let me go, but I chose to come back to you. And that you were only pretending to have me hostage for the trade, I wasn't in any danger, and we had arranged for me to join you again in a few days.” His look turned shy, but he'd had plenty of time to reflect on Victor and how he felt, and he was determined to say it now that he had the chance. “That you are my soulmate, and I love you.” Victor's eyes widened. “And he had to release me before-” Victor interrupted with another kiss, considerably longer and more passionate than before. 

“Victor,” Chris groaned, eager for this story. 

Phichit smacked his chest lightly. “Let them have their moment, Chris. It's long overdue.” The reunited lovers broke away for a breath a few moments later, smiling and looking a bit drunk on happiness, and Phichit fondly whispered, “You're sure this is the same Nikiforov I read about this morning?” The terrorizing force who sunk 18 merchant ships in the past six months. 

“The one and only,” he chuckled, kissing his cheek. Now, back to business. “Ok!” he said loudly, awakening Victor and Yuuri from the haze, “He lets you go, we all end up on our ship, your uncle leaves with you, and...” 

“Well, it was all so dizzying. I don't even know how our crew-” Victor's heart stupidly warmed at the thought of Yuuri still considering the crew his own “-got back on the ship and you all went one way and we went the other... But when everything settled down, Yuuko's father told my uncle he would _never_ allow his daughter to marry into our family.” 

The men blinked. “But why?” asked Victor. 

“Are you kidding? He had no idea my uncle was so crazy! He said he'd never force his daughter into a situation where _cold blooded murder_ was acceptable. Avenging me was one thing, but once he realized I didn't want revenge but my uncle was still going after you, he was furious! Plus if I was trying so hard to run away from him, why make Yuuko another victim?” He had known Yuuri was reluctant to marry from the beginning, arranged marriages were never easy, but he hadn't realized the degree Yuuri loathed Itoku. “Anyway, her mark finally appeared. It was easier to marry her off when she didn't have a soulmate out there.” 

“It did? After all this time? What was it?” Victor found he was surprisingly curious. 

“The kanji for 'warrior.''” Yuuri grinned at the memory, and Victor looked confused again. “I went to see her, just to make sure she understood this all had nothing to do with her personally.” She was a beautiful, lovely woman, and Yuuri hoped they could still be friendly. “I took Takeshi with me. It actually took us a while to figure out. She kept scratching at her side during brunch.” She had never felt the mark's alert before. “It wasn't until Takeshi mentioned his own mark was driving him crazy that we put two and two together.” 

“Your childhood friend Takeshi is her soulmate? The carpenter?” asked Victor. He found it hard to believe 'warrior' was anywhere near fitting the man, considering he'd grown up in sleepy little Hasetsu in a less than intimidating profession. When Yuuri nodded in confirmation Victor asked, “Why do you think her mark finally appeared?” 

“Well,” Yuuri started, “It seems like it happened right around the time he, uh, shot you.” He blushed when Victor choked out a laugh. “I suppose it was waiting on him to, er, earn the title?” Dropping everything to ambush a crew of world renowned pirates all in the name of saving a friend, with the added fact that he had the nerve to take on the captain, was more than enough to deem Takeshi worthy. 

Victor huffed good naturedly. “I'm glad my injury was convenient for someone.” 

Yuuri scratched at his neck awkwardly. “Sorry...” 

“I'm teasing, Yuuri. I'd happily be shot in my other arm too if that's what it would have taken to stop your marriage to Yuuko.” Yuuri looked horrified at the thought of Victor going through that again, but the Russian just laughed and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. 

Pacified, Yuuri continued. “ _I_ may not have married her, but the wedding plans didn't go to waste.” A month was a little fast for some, but not for those who knew their soulmate was standing right in front of them. "She's Nishigori Yuuko now." 

“That's so sweet,” Phichit cooed, leaning against Chris as he smiled dreamily. _If only..._

“So...Thailand?” asked Victor helplessly. That explained why he wasn't married. But not why he was out of Japan. 

“Well your ship was gone. I didn't know how to contact you. I couldn't stay with my uncle any longer. So...I used your escape plan.” 

“...Come again?” asked Victor. 

“The escape plan you came up with with Phichit. To get me home. I just did it in reverse.” Victor stared at him in wonder. “I couldn't remember the name of this bar,” Yuuri explained. “But I did remember Ban Sang, and that Phichit's cousin lived in Bang Kruai.”

“How did you find her? Did you even know her name?” Victor asked, bewildered. 

“No,” Yuuri laughed. “But he did tell me that her husband was a retired naval officer. It took a few weeks, but I found him. I told them I was the friend Phichit wrote about, that I had made it to my mother's just fine without stopping like we had originally planned, but I did need some help getting home. They arranged a carriage for me, and here I am.” 

Victor ran his hands down Yuuri's arms, more and more amazed he was standing in front of him. “How long have you been here?” he asked. 

“Oh, he showed up a little over three months ago,” Phichit said. 

“Three months?!” 

“He's been helping me out with the bar while we waited,” Phichit said fondly. “I'll be sad to see him go. His katsudon dish is really popular.” 

“How did you know we would come back here?” asked Victor. 

“Well that's a silly question,” Yuuri laughed. “Why wouldn't you come back? Chris's soulmate is here.” 

Chris's eyes widened and shot to Phichit. He was looking back at him, much more composed than Chris expected. 

Phichit titled his head, taking in Chris's expression. “Did you not know?” he asked quietly. 

Chris blinked. “Well of course I knew,” he said. “But you knew?” This whole time?

“Of course I knew!” Phichit laughed. “Forget tingling during brunch. My ankle reacts when your ship enters the bay.” He always knew when the pirates were in town. “For goodness' sakes, Chris, my mark is a cross and your name literally means 'bearing Christ!' I'm not an idiot!” 

“Why didn't you say anything?” Chris asked. 

“I did,” he laughed again, smacking him playfully. “Why do you think I always ask you to stay?”

Chris was dumbstruck, and Phichit leaned up to press a kiss to his lips. 

Meanwhile, Victor was back to holding Yuuri tight to his chest. “I'm sorry you waited so long. If I had known you were here..” 

“It's alright. I knew you'd come eventually.” He nuzzled happily against his soulmate. “Have you filled my spot in the crew?” 

Before Victor could answer Chris offered, “You can have mine.” All three looked at him in surprise. “I love the ship, and I love the crew,” he said honestly. “But I love Phichit too.” Phichit beamed and squeezed his arm. “It's time I acted like it. I can't leave him again.”

Victor looked at Yuuri and tried to imagine another six months apart. “I understand,” he said to Chris. “It won't be the same without you though.” 

“Who knows,” he teased. “Maybe it'll be better.” 

“You must come visit,” Phichit insisted. “And more often than twice a year, okay?”

“Absolutely,” Yuuri agreed for him. He wanted to see Phichit too. Maybe they could come once a month. “Oh!” he gasped. “Before I forget. Um. Can Guang Hong come too?” His friend had helped him search Bang Kruai for Phichit's cousin, and continued on to this harbor town to make sure Yuuri was alright. 

Victor raised an eyebrow. “That's not the one that shot me, right?”

“No, no! The other one! Although Takeshi really, really does feel bad about that...” 

Victor made a show of thinking it over. “I suppose. It is your crew now too.” 

“Perfect!” Yuuri beamed, and leaned up for another quick kiss. “You'll love him.” 

Victor framed Yuuri's face with his hands again. Speaking of that, “I love you.” He caught Yuuri's smiling lips with his own, and felt his soulmate wrap their arms around his neck. 

Eventually the couples parted ways for the evening, Chris staying in the bar with Phichit, promising to send Guang Hong to the ship in the morning. Yuuri's friend was staying in one of the few boarding rooms above the tavern. Victor and Yuuri retired to their quarters. 

“You ready for the pirate life?” Victor asked as he closed the door. 

“I suppose we'll see.” Yuuri untied the strings of the apron and pulled it off, resting it over the back of a chair. There was still a lot about Victor's...profession that he didn't care for. For instance, no more walking the plank business. Or sinking ships. Preferably no stealing, either. Hmm. They'd have to talk about this later. 

Victor slipped his arms around Yuuri's waist, starting to nibble at his neck. “What are you thinking about so seriously all of a sudden?”

Yuuri's expression brightened, and he tilted his head to the side to make it easier on the other man. While they had barely done more than hold each other at night when they were last together, they had each had months of imagining what they longed to do when they reunited. “Just how many nights I spent in here, curled up with you.” Victor hummed happily. “Safe.” Hm. “Comfortable.” Hm. “Clothed.” 

Victor scoffed and bit him a little harder that time. “I can change that last part.” 

“I was hoping so,” Yuuri smirked, then gasped when the cabin floor was no longer under his feet. “Victor-!” He'd been scooped up and dropped on the bed so quickly his head spun. 

Victor kicked off his boots before crawling after him, bracketing him with an arm and a leg on either side of Yuuri, dipping down for a kiss. Yuuri tugged Victor's shirt from his trousers, fumbling around as he was unable to see what he was doing, finally needing to break the kiss long enough to pull it off over Victor's head. Victor tried to resume the kiss but Yuuri's eyes landed on the scar on his arm. 

“Oh dear,” he said quietly, reaching to gently run his fingers over it. “That looks terrible.” 

“Looks worse than it was,” Victor assured him. “Just a flesh wound, nothing vital.” 

“Still,” Yuuri frowned. “You had been losing so much blood...I was really worried about you. I was so relieved to hear you had sunk one of my uncle's ships.” Victor raised an eyebrow at that in question, and Yuuri laughed before he explained, “That meant you were alive. And not only that you were alive, but in good enough condition for a fight.” He let out a content sigh. “And my uncle deserved every one of those losses.” 

Victor grinned. “You can help with the next one,” he offered, before dipping down to mouth at Yuuri's neck again. The younger man didn't comment. Once again, about that whole sinking ships thing...

Yuuri started undoing his own black bartender's button up, but Victor quickly batted his hands away to do it himself. He opted instead to run his hands over Victor's chest, delighting in how strong the captain was, then trailed around to his back. “Oh!” he said in surprise when he felt a particularly warm patch of skin under his shoulder blade. 

Victor had finished unbuttoning the shirt and had just started on Yuuri's belt. He stopped at the gasp and looked up to Yuuri's eyes. “Too much?” he asked, disappointment in his voice despite his attempt to look neutral. He had rather hoped...

“No, no,” Yuuri hurried to say. “You're fine. It's just your mark. I didn't expect it to be so warm.” 

Victor curiously reached for Yuuri's wrist. It was a little above average, but nothing too noticeable. “Hmm,” he frowned. Keeping a hold of Yuuri's wrist, Victor leaned down to nip at Yuuri's collarbone, then trailed down his chest and over to one of his nipples. Yuuri gasped when Victor bit him lightly, tongue quickly darting out to soothe it, and repeated this until it was just a touch too uncomfortable to keep a hand on his burning mark. Victor surfaced to grin, “Interesting.” 

“But is it picking up you or me?” Yuuri asked breathlessly. 

Good question. “Ooh,” Victor smirked, “Won't this be a fun game?” 

* * *

Despite being head over heels for each other, Victor and Yuuri butted heads often when they first set out as captain and first mate. Victor wanted to carry on like normal, pillaging at random and seeking out more Hirome ships to capsize. It was his life, and he didn't see it as malicious attacks so much as he and his crew making a living. 

“You could retire and live like a king a thousand times over with what you already have,” Yuuri pointed out. “Why do you need even more?” 

Victor knew better than to say because it was fun. “What else would you have me do?” he asked. 

“I’m glad you asked,” said Yuuri. “You remember that Yuuko’s mother’s side live in the south, right?” Victor nodded. “Well, the local government is requiring all foreign trade with the town to go through them, and they’re charging outrageous taxes on goods they import. Apparently it’s causing quite a stir over there.” 

“Fascinating,” Victor said with only a partially fake yawn. He poked at his dinner absently with a fork. 

Yuuri glowered playfully at him. “Yes, it is. You know why? Because they’re tired of paying high taxes and dealing with the government goons. They would much rather purchase their goods from…let’s say an independent party.” 

“Define independent party.” 

“And individual who doesn’t charge them sales tax. And who doesn’t go through the typical commercial channels.”

“Darling,” Victor grinned, eyes lighting up immensely. “Are you actually suggesting we smuggle goods into their town?”

Yuuri’s cheeks were pink, still not used to the endearments. He had so little practice receiving them in his life before Victor. “Yes, yes I am. Would you be interested?”

“Of course I am. This is the first time you’ve approved of breaking the law.” He reached over to place his hand on Yuuri’s and gave it a light squeeze. “You’ve grown up so fast.” 

Yuuri ignored him. “I figure it’s not hurting anybody,” he reasoned. “If anything, it’s helping. And while we’re at it I imagine there would be quite a few folks willing to pay for unofficial passage over there.” Suddenly he had arms around him. “What’s happening right now? I thought you were eating.” When did he stand up?

Victor was practically purring. “A black market goods scheme and transporting undocumented immigrants into Japan? My love, here I thought you were just another pretty face.” 

Yuuri rolled his eyes. “So you’re up for it?” 

“Absolutely.” 

Yuuri jumped when Victor’s hands went south of his waist. “Really? It’s seven thirty, Victor, I’m not ready to get into bed yet. Knock it off.” 

“But Yuuri,” he whined. “You know how I feel when your dark side starts to show…” Victor always found it irresistibly attractive whenever Yuuri strayed from his normal moral ways. “I’m sure it’s the marks fault. I simply can’t help myself.” 

“Ah, the marks fault,” Yuuri said, letting Victor nip at his ear gently. “That explains everything.” 

“It’s unbearable once it gets started,” he insisted. “There’s only one way to relieve the pain.” Victor gently nudged Yuuri away from the table and in the direction of their bed. 

Yuuri chuckled. “Well if you’re in that much pain, I suppose we really have no choice.” His knees hit the edge of the bed and he fell back, shifting into the blankets and pulling his wrist up to look at his mark. “Strange how mine never does that to me…” He shot Victor a knowing look. 

“Very strange,” Victor agreed, jumping onto him happily. “What a mystery to us all.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is a "where are they now" kinda epilogue deal! Thanks for reading!


	8. Epilogue: Two Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see how our favorite pirates are doing two years later!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go guys, the final installment!

Victor and Yuuri made quite a pair together. Victor was a little reluctant he went from _terrorizing_ to _sailing_ the seas, and he hadn't missed the fact they were doing less and less plundering and more and more transporting goods. Yuuri was doing his best to turn Victor and damn it, it was kind of working. Victor and his crew were less feared and more respected these days, which annoyed the pirate captain and amused the first mate.  
  
Thank god old foes held grudges, or Victor would never see any action these days.  
  
"I need cannons loaded _yesterday_ ," Victor shouted over the noise of his crew sprinting about the ship. They were little better than chickens with their heads cut off. The ship pursuing them was practically on top of them now. "Do we need to do drills? This is outrageous!" He grabbed a line hanging nearby and swung down to the main deck, where an unimpressed Yuuri was waiting with his arms crossed over his chest. "I hope you're happy, darling, the crew is terribly rusty." He leaned in to kiss Yuuri's cheek as the younger man rolled his eyes.  
  
"They're 'rusty' because we agreed we would stop attacking other ships."  
  
"I had nothing to do with this," Victor grinned innocently. His lover's eyebrow could not rise higher in skepticism. "I mean today, obviously. I didn't do anything _today_. A few years ago, though... maybe I stole a few things... sunk a few ships... Some people can't get over that, it's not my fault."  
  
Yuuri's lips were starting to twitch into a smile despite his best efforts at remaining annoyed. "You're impossible."  
  
" _Yuuri_ ," he purred as the ship rocked from cannon fire down below, setting his hands on his boyfriend's waist to steady himself. "Come on. You kinda like this side of me. It's okay to admit it."  
  
Yuuri sighed, though in truth, he was always impressed with the way Victor handled himself under pressure. Few could match his boyfriend when it came to agility and skill with a sword. "Just don't hurt yourself," he settled on. "And no one else either!" he added as Victor kissed him quickly once more before hurrying off to bark orders at his crew.  
  
Hardly two hours later Victor had his would-be attackers on their knees, surrendering on the deck of their ship. Victor remembered when his mere presence was enough to send up the white flag, but, c'est la vie. Their captain was glaring daggers at Victor though cautiously staying silent.  
  
Out of habit, his crew began rummaging around the deck in search of prizes for their efforts, and a few made for the stairs to check the storage down below. "Ah, ah," Victor snapped. They turned to look at him. "Remember, one thing each, and no excessive and unnecessary damage." A few men smirked at their captain while the others just rolled their eyes.  
  
Those on their knees were sharing bewildered glances. A few short years ago, this same man had taken anything of value and disabled their ship to prevent retaliation. What was happening?  
  
Sensing the confusion, Victor leaned against one of the barrels nearby and explained, "Turning over a new leaf, and all that jazz. Too much violence and the first mate makes me sleep in the cells. Can't have that." Kicking Victor out of bed had been the most effective way to reel in Victor's behavior.  
  
When the crew was satisfied with their haul, Victor ordered them back to his ship, stopping only to pop his head in the captain's quarters and swipe a flower from the vase inside. There had been a few young women aboard, and he had correctly suspected flowers would be present as well.  
  
"Well this has been fun," Victor said, grabbing hold of a rope and preparing to return to his ship. "Honestly I needed this, so I appreciate the attempt at revenge. Let's do it again sometime." And with that, he flew over the divide and landed soundly on the main deck.  
  
 _"Victor,"_ came a stern voice from behind.  
  
"Darling!" Victor beamed, turning and approaching slowly. "I return unharmed, as you wished, and left the other ship no worse for wear. Mostly."  
  
"Mhmm." Yuuri had seen them come back far from empty handed.  
  
"The men deserved a little reward for good behavior, don't you think?" Victor asked, leaving Yuuri to marvel at how Victor managed to ignore how contrary it was to reward good behavior with stealing. If you could call boarding a ship, rounding up it's crew and putting a few cannon holes in it good behavior in the first place. He held up the rose he'd swiped, smiling as he asked, "Forgive me?"  
  
Yuuri caved at the cute gesture, accepting the flower with a, "Of course," and squeaking as Victor pulled him into an embrace. "I know from experience if your leash gets too tight it only leads to trouble." He knew he would never fully tame Victor, and honestly he didn't think he would want to anyway, the rebellious spirit of the pirate was a crucial part of the man he loved. "I'm glad you were able to let off some steam."  
  
"You know how I'd _really_ like to let off some steam?" he grinned, dipping to nibble at Yuuri's neck.  
  
"Hey," Yuuri laughed, pushing him away. "Later," he promised. When they weren't in the middle of the ship.

* * *

  
That evening found Yuuri snuggled on Victor's chest, limbs tangled together as they caught their breath, grateful for the cool breeze coming through the small window. Yuuri shifted to look up to the older man's face. "Victor?"  
  
"Hmm?" hummed a content, sleepy Victor.  
  
"Can we go see Chris and Phichit soon?" It had been almost six months since they'd seen their friends, having found it harder and harder to keep their once a month promise.  
  
Victor nodded. "I'd like that." He rolled onto his side, Yuuri slipping off him to lay on his side too, head propped up with a hand. "We can go when we're done with this job."  
  
Yuuri was quiet a moment, pondering something, before he asked, "Do you mind the jobs?"  
  
"Not really, they're pretty easy, all things considered."  
  
"But that's what I mean," Yuuri said. "Is this...too easy now? Are you bored?"  
  
Victor smiled mischievously, his free hand squeezing Yuuri's waist as he said, "How can I be bored with you around?"  
  
"Victor, I'm serious," Yuuri insisted, putting one of his hands over Victor's. "I don't mean are you bored with me, I mean...do you miss being what you were?" Fearsome and ruthless, a gold hungry thief, a terrorizing force to be reckoned with.  
  
"Sometimes," Victor admitted. It had been wild and fun. He thrived on the adrenaline a good battle at sea brought on. "Occasionally I'd prefer to ditch the cargo and set sail for the corners of the earth," stopping in any seaside village he liked and taking what he pleased. "Add a few more trunks of gold the collection." Yuuri opened his mouth to comment, but Victor shushed him with a gentle tap on the lips. "But even though I've lost the mounds of gold I treasured, I have gained something far more precious." He pressed a quick kiss to Yuuri, smiling against his lips. "But if you ever tell the crew I said that, you're walking the plank." Yuuri laughed as Victor rolled on top of him and ducked down for a deeper kiss.

* * *

  
A cannon fired, the ball whirling past their ship and splashing loudly in the water beside them.  
  
"Victor!" called Yuuri from the wheel. "Victor!"  
  
The captain came sprinting up the stairs, half dressed as he'd been asleep fifteen seconds ago. "What's going on?" It was barely dawn.  
  
"I don't know!" Yuuri said worriedly. "They just fired at us out of nowhere." He pointed at the ship behind them, noticing now how quickly they were gaining on them.  
  
"Have they been following us long?" Victor asked.  
  
Yuuri shrugged anxiously. "I suppose? A few hours maybe, but they were keeping their distance." He glanced up at their own flag, innocently Japanese. The same could be said for their fast approaching company. "I don't think it's revenge on you, the colors aren't up."  
  
Victor was squinting in the poor light. "Hang on," he muttered. His eyes widened. "Oh you've got to be _kidding_ me." He swore as another cannonball splashed too close in the water. "Fucking pirates."  
  
Yuuri didn't know if he should laugh and or cry. "Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, they're raising their flag now," he said, watching the black and white material slowly rise. "What are the odds?" He couldn't tell if this was hilarious or infuriating.  
  
"What do you do in this situation?" asked Yuuri.  
  
Victor honestly was baffled. He'd never been attacked by pirates before. "Raise our own," he decided, stepping over to the railing to shout down, "Minami! Hoist the colors!"  
  
"Aye!" came a confused reply. Normally they were already up by the time they were attacked.  
  
"Do you think they'll back off when they realize it's you?" asked Yuuri.  
  
"When they realize it's _us_ ," Victor corrected with a smile. "Now go see if anyone's managed to sleep through this mess and I'll prepare-"  
  
"To be boarded?" asked Yuuri with a smirk.  
  
Victor playfully glared at him. " _No_. To board the unfortunate idiots who decided to attack me unprovoked." He swept off in an irritated (yet to be honest pleasantly eager) huff. Twice this week he got to stretch his legs, so to speak. He did miss hand to hand combat being a daily exercise.  
  
The ship turned to take aim, firing several times and hitting their target once. Victor was impressed with their defensive maneuvers, if he wasn't so selfish he'd say they rivaled his own. There was a distinct lack of firing on the other ships part now, curious seeing as they were certainly close enough now to easily hit their mark. "Hold your fire," Victor ordered. "I'd rather handle this personally." He left instruction to resume fire only if fired upon, then went up to ensure Yuuri was safely out of harm's way in their cabin before preparing to swing over to the enemy ship. While Yuuri certainly could defend himself, having learned from the best, Victor was wary of this surprise encounter and wasn't taking any chances.  
  
The air was thick with gunfire, mostly from the strangers ship, as their men were under strict orders from the first mate not to shoot to kill unless absolutely necessary. Yet curiously, none of their men had been so much as grazed. All of the bullets missed by an embarrassing amount. Was this the worst raid in the world? Who were these people?  
  
"With me," Victor called, and he jumped into the air and swung over the divide, landing on the deck and drawing his sword. "I don't know _who_ you think you are, but you have got to be the _worst_ \- what the hell is happening - _Chris?!_ " Victor spluttered. There, in all his smirking glory, stood his best friend and former first mate. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Is that any way to address a captain?" Chris asked with a grin.  
  
"Captain?" Victor echoed, dropping his arms to the side, leaving himself completely defenseless. He barely noticed all gunfire had stopped. "Since when are you a captain?"  
  
"Since a little over four months ago," came an amused voice from behind him. Victor turned and felt like he was hallucinating.  
  
"Phichit?" he asked dumbly. Chris's soulmate was looking about as smug as he. Victor's eyes darted between them. "What is going on?"  
  
Chris approached slowly, and when it was clear Victor was too stunned to do anything dangerous, Chris clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, "I was born to be at sea. And there's too much of you and Yakov in me to be happy as a bartender."  
  
Victor's head was spinning, trying to process how the man he had last seen at the village tavern six months ago was here before him. "But Phichit...?"  
  
"Sold the bar," Phichit finished for him. "It was never really my dream, I only inherited it from my father." He came to stand between the two. "It was alright for a year, but...I could tell Chris would never be truly happy on land. Or without you." He put an arm around each of their waists, happily saying, "So here we are, together at last!"  
  
Victor slowly allowed himself to smile. "You're serious?"  
  
"Yes," Chris laughed. "I'm serious."  
  
Victor dove forward to engulf his best friend in a hug. "I've missed you, Chris. We both have." Oh right, someone should tell Yuuri. He pulled away to bark at Minami, "Go get Yuuri!" before rounding back on Chris. "Glad to have you back, but why did you attack me?"  
  
"We were just kidding," Phichit smiled shyly. "We weren't even close to hitting you."  
  
"Unlike _you_ , who put a good size hole in my hull," Chris glowered playfully.  
  
"Well how was I supposed to know to hold back?" Victor demanded, hands on his hips. They bickered about the finer points of fighting until Yuuri arrived, having a similar reaction.  
  
"Chris?! Phichit?! What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Surprise!" Phichit beamed, running to hug Yuuri.  
  
"You - You attacked us," Yuuri said, voice quizzical as he was squeezed.  
  
"Apparently that's how they greet people now," Victor said with laugh.  
  
Yuuri returned the hug, asking, "So, are you joining us? We would love to have you back, wouldn't we Victor?"  
  
Hm. While he would love Chris back, "Yuuri will still be-"  
  
"Your second in command, I get it," Chris assured. Yuuri frowned, worried the puzzle of who was first mate would ruin this reunion, when Chris said, "We were thinking more along the lines of a fleet."  
  
"Excuse me?" asked Victor.  
  
"Two ships," Phichit said. "Twice as powerful."  
  
Yuuri's eyes brightened. "We could carry more. Imagine the jobs we'd get."  
  
"And if we acquired a few more we could get a decent enterprise going," Phichit agreed. His business experience would be quite useful.   
  
The pirates sighed. Their significant others were determined to make them walk the straight and narrow.  
  
Yuuri noticed and nudged up against Victor, wrapping his arms around him. "Cheer up Victor. You can defend us from the pirates who would want to interfere."  
  
"We better be damn successful," he said. "I expect to be the number one target of piracy." If only for the fun of fighting them off.  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Yuuri grinned.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise as much as Victor complains, he's happy with the arrangement. If they had continued attacking daily he'd have been constantly worrying over Yuuri's safety and it wouldn't be as fun as it was before. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story! If you like my style please consider checking out my other story, A Hundred Different Shades of Blue. It's got magic and dragons and all that good stuff, and a little more detailed of a plot. And there's a part two in the works for the dragon one! (And my sister has requested a time travel story, so that may be in the future as well!)


End file.
